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"FOLLOWING   THE  DRUM;" 


Glimpse     of     Frontier     Life 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/followingdrumgliOOvielrich 


"Following  the  Drum: 


?? 


A  Glimpse  of  Frontier  Life. 


By  MRS.  VIELE. 


NEW  YORK: 
RUDD  &  CARLETON,  310  Broadway. 


M  DCCC  LIX. 


r 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1858,  by 

EGBERT  L.  VIELfi, 

In  the  Oleirk'a  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


B.  OBAtSHBAD,  PRCmS) 

Caxtort  Builtiing, 

SI,  83,  and  85  Ctntre  Stretl- 


7^7 


**  Oh,  the  drum — it  rattles  so  loud  f 
There's  no  such  stirring  sound 
Is  heard  the  wide  world  round. 

As  the  drum " 

EiickerL 


WINFIELD      SCOTT, 


The  Honored  Chief  of  the  Army, 


These     Pages     abe     Inscribed, 


CONTENTS 


Enlisting,       .              13 

Kecbuiting,  '.••••••••  26 

Burlington, .84 

Orders, 43 

The  Tropics, 60 

Havana, 57 

New  Orleans, 69 

First  Glimpse  op  Texas, 16 

Galveston,  Texas, 84 

Brazos  St.  Jago,   ...               ....  97 

Fort  Brown, 104 

The  Rio  Bravo  Del  Norte, 119 

Ringgold  Barracks, 121 

Davis's  Ranchb,     . 142 

Frontier  Piety,  etc., 161 

"The  Army," Ill 

Camargo, 176 

Filibustering,        ........  191 

Los  Indios, 212 

Camp  Life, 221 

Texas— Past,  Present,  and  Future,  .   .   ,   .235 

The  Last  Tap  op  the  Drum, 243 


(( 


FOLLOWING   THE   DRUM." 


CHAPTER  I. 

ENLISTING. 

"  There's  not  a  trade  a  going 
"Worth  knowing  1  or  showing  I 
Like  that  from  glory  growing  1" 

iJTo  recruit  ever  entered  the  service  with  more 
enthusiasm  than  I  did,  or  felt  more  eager  to 
prove  himself  a  soldier. 

Military  glory,  in  all  its  varied  phases,  had 
charmed  and  dazzled  me  from  childhood.  My 
beau-ideal  hero  would  have  completely  lost  his 
identity  without  his  sword  and  epaulets,  and  as 
for  my  beau-ideal  heroine,  the  Maid  of  Sara- 
gossa  was  a  poor,  tame,  spiritless  creature  com- 
pared to  her. 


14  ENLISTING. 

Mars  would  have  gloried  in  the  wonderful 
female  that  my  imagination  loved  to  paint,  and 
to  follow  her  heroic  footsteps  seemed  a  high 
ambition. 

She  was  a  kind  of  tough,  weather-proof,  In- 
dia-rubber woman, 

"  Six  feet  high- 
Grand,  epic,  homicidal," 

who  could  travel  over  hundreds  of  miles  of 
prairie  on  horseback,  or  follow  the  train  for 
months  on  top  of  a  baggage-waggon. 

Familiar  intercourse  with  the  most  savage 
tribes  of  Indians  was  nothing  to  her  I  Human 
sympathy,  food,  or  rest,  were  mere  frivolous 
weaknesses,  necessities  of  our  fallen  nature, 
which  she  banished  from  her  high-strung  mind. 
A  strong  energy  of  character  sustained  her 
through  the  direst  emergencies,  nothing  could 
unstring  her  dauntless  nerves. 

The  allurements  of  dress,  petty  artifices,  tears, 
or  any  other  little  feminine  failings  she  scorned 
contemptuously!  The  many  minor  ills  of  life 
she  smiled  at  sardonically. 


ENLISTING.  15 

"  The  regiment"  adored  her,  and  her  children 
(if  she  had  any)  were  embryo  soldiers,  arrayed 
in  military  baby  clothes,  cradled  in  a  disabled 
drum,  tucked  in  with  a  piece  of  "  star-spangled 
banner,"  and  teething  on  a  drumstick. 

I  saw  her  the  witness  of  many  a  thrilling  and 
gory  scene,  with  the  din  of  battle  in  her  ear,  and 
stern  endurance  on  her  brow.  With  this  vision 
before  my  eyes,  I  enlisted  "  to  follow  the  drum !" 

How  many  bright  dreams  of  adventure,  how 
much  that  was  delightful  and  romantic  in  anti- 
cipation now  opened  before  me ;  all  that  was 
fascinating  in  peril  in  the  wild  life  of  the  fron- 
tier, rose  before  my  mind  in  strong  and  vivid 
coloring. 

The  "  worldly  goods"  with  which  I  was 
endowed  in  Grace  Church,  the  day  of  my  enlist- 
ment, consisted  of  a  mortgage  on  a  camp- 
kettle,  mess  chest,  bundle  of  canvas,  and  set 
of  tent  poles,  which  awaited  me  at  a  distant 
frontier  station.  Even  these  few  luxuries 
seemed  superfluous  to  so  ardent  a  campaigner. 
How  was  I  to  live  for  my  country,  if  I  thought 
too  much  of  personal  comfort  ?  the  idea  was  too 


16  ENLISTING. 

trifling  and  effeminate  to  be  considered  for  an 
instant;  like  tlie  French  princess,  I  felt  equal  to 
living  on  cake,  in  a  dearth  of  bread  and  butter ! 

It  is  true  my  early  training  had  not  been  a 
peculiarly  Spartan  preparation  for  endurance 
and  hardship;  on  the  contrary,  it  would  pro- 
bably have  been  regarded  with  stern  disap- 
proval by  those  strict  disciplinarians,  yet  this 
was  more  reason  for  feeling  sanguine. 

What  is  more  impracticable  than  the  antici- 
pations of  youth?  Invariably  exaggerated — 
invariably  disappointed. 

Those  faded  leaves  rustling  mournfully  through 
the  bleak  autumn  forests,  are  the  same  which, 
in  early  spring-time,  put  forth  a  delicate  ver- 
dure, to  gladden  the  summer  with  their  beauty. 

So  experience  dimmed  the  roseate  hue  of  my 
early  day  dreams,  yet  they  have  been  suffi- 
ciently realized  to  tempt  a  record  of  them. 

The  usual  course  adopted  with  recruits  is, 
when  a  sufficient  number  are  collected,  to  stow 
them  away  in  the  recesses  of  a  dark  old  ship, 
and  start  them  off,  to  be  distributed  among  the 
different  regiments  in  the  field      But  having 


ENLISTDTG.  17 

selected  a  particular  arm  of  the  service  I  was  at 
liberty  to  join  at  leisure,  in  fact,  allowed  a  short 
reprieve  before  going  upon  active  duty,  and  im- 
proved the  opportunity  to  revisit  that  mammoth 
trap,  otherwise  called  West  Point,  where  the 
couleur  de  rose  of  army-life  serves  as  a  bait  for 
the  unsophisticated,  where  reality  wears  the 
gloss  of  romance,  and  military  glory  appears  in 
its  brightest  holiday  dress,  accompanied  by  all 
the  poetry  of  war. 

Most  delusive  spot,  where  even  the  atmo- 
sphere seems  heavily  freighted  with  martial 
music  and  martial  association. 

This  was  not  the  place  to  chill  a  military 
ardor,  but  rather  to  foster  it  to  the  utmost. 

Our  young  country,  generally  so  barren  of 
historical  association,  here  presents  a  strong  con- 
trast to  that  deficiency.  Shades  of  departed 
heroes  haunt  each  wooded  mountain,  and  remi- 
niscences of 

"  Those  great  spirits,  that  went  down  like  suns, 
And  left  upon  the  mountain-tops  of  death, 
A  Hght  that  made  them  lovely," 

hallow  this  nursery  of  Bellona. 


18  ENLISTING. 

Sculptured  monuments,  ruined  fortiess,  and 
crumbling  battlement,  traces  of  a  glorious  past, 
serve  as  beacons  to  guide  the  stripling  soldier  to 
a  glorious  future. 

Like  a  pilgrim  at  the  shrine  of  Mecca,  in 
after  years  I  revisit  this  spot,  associated  with  a 
youthful  admiration  of  a  military  life,  and  not 
even  the  dark  background  of  stern  reality,  that 
I  had  seen,  could  dim  its  loveliness.  West 
Point,  beautiful  West  Point,  how  bright  are  the 
memories  of  those  who  associate  their  "  Love's 
Young  Dream"  with  thee  ! 

I  would  gladly  have  transferred  my  newly  ac- 
quired canvas  and  camp-kettles  from  Texas  to 
this  place,  and  pitched  a  tent  here  for  life,  had 
fate  and  the  commander-in-chief  so  ordained; 
but  it  was  otherwise  arranged  by  these  mighty 
powers,  probably  for  the  reason  that  the  best 
soldiers  were  needed  on  the  frontier,  the  post  of 
danger  being  the  post  of  honor,  as  the  flower  of 
chivalry  is  proverbially  placed  in  the  van- 
guard ! 

The  reprieve  was  longer  than  had  been  anti- 
cipated, and  an  indolent  summer  passed,  before 


ENLISTING.  19 

orders  for  duty  were  received,  lingering  over 
the  wild  woodland  beauties  of  Trenton  Falls, 
and  at  that  glorious  indescribable  Niagara,  with 
a  sail  across  Lake  Erie  to  Detroit,  then  the  home 
of  General  Brady  (that  aged  warrior  and  veteran 
of  eighteen  hundred  and  twelve).  Although  past 
the  allotted  age  of  three  score  years  and  ten,  he 
drove  himself  some  miles  to  see,  what  he  was 
pleased  most  poetically  to  term  me,  "  a  young 
pilgrim  bound  for  the  land  of  the  Camanches." 
His  fatherly  benedictions  were  quite  over- 
powering. 

Awaiting  our  return  from  Detroit,  at  Nia- 
gara, was  a  voluminous  package  from  Washing- 
ton, having  an  alarmingly  official  appearance. 
It  proved  to  be  the  first  orders  for  military  duty. 
They  were  decidedly  different  from  what  had 
been  expected ;  instead  of  summons  to  "  the  tented 
field,"  they  were  instructions  to  proceed  without 
loss  of  time  to  Burlington,  Yermont,  and  there 
to  establish  a  recruiting  rendezvous  to  enlist 
soldiers  for  Uncle  Sam.  Eather  common-place 
business  compared  to  what  had  been  antici- 
pated. 


20  ENLISTING. 

I  knew  Yermont  by  name,  and  that  it  was 
painted  green  on  the  atlas  at  school ;  there  was 
a  time  when  its  cities,  rivers,  and  mountains 
had  been  learned  by  rote,  and  repeated  with 
the  singular  velocity  peculiar  to  extreme  youth, 
in  happy  unconsciousness  of  their  real  location, 
or  anything  definite  in  relation  to  them.  Later 
in  life  I  had  heard  casual  mention  made  of 
"  Yermont  horses,"  and  "  Green  Mountain 
boys,"  but  here  all  knowledge  on  the  subject 
came  to  a  dead  stand-still,  and  I  felt  quite 
eager  for  the  hour  to  arrive,  that  would  give  me 
a  clearer  insight  into  this  terra  incognita. 

We  left  Niagara  immediately,  took  a  steam- 
er at  Queenston  for  Montreal,  and  after  a  de- 
lightful sail  of  twenty-four  hours  across  Lake 
Ontario  (which,  in  its  vast  expanse  of  waters, 
seems  more  like  the  ocean  than  an  inland  sea), 
we  entered  the  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

The  sail  down  its  rapids  is  disagreeably  excit- 
ing ;  the  boat  seems  threatened  every  moment 
to  be  dashed  to  pieces,  as  the  pilot  skilfully 
guides  it  through  these  perilous  mazes.  The 
river  rushes  impatiently,  fretting  over  the  bed 


ENLISTING.  21 

of  rocks  which  impedes  its  course,  until  it 
reaches  its  thousand  isles,  where  it  seems  to 
pause,  to  flow  lovingly  around  their  beautiful 
banks. 

They  are  vefy  beautiful ;  some  spreading  out 
for  miles  in  emerald  meadow  lands,  and  some 
only  large  enough  to  form  the  bed  of  a  single 
forest  tree,  their  banks  edged  with  long  grasses, 
intermingled  with  wild  flowers,  drooping  over 
and  reflecting  graceful  fringes  in  the  translucent 
waters  below. 

At  this  point  the  river  seems  almost  loath  to 
pass  on,  and  does  so  lingeringly,  until  it  gradu- 
ally widens  into  a  broad,  clear,  majestic  flow, 
wider  and  wider,  until  it  merges  itself  into  that 
ocean,  which  at  its  outset  it  seemed  so  eagerly 
impatient  to  reach. 

Towards  evening  of  the  third  day  after  leav- 
ing Niagara,  we  arrived  at  Montreal,  where  we 
stopped  for  a  few  days  to  rest.  The  un-Ameri- 
can air  of  this  place  is  very  striking.  In  some 
parts  the  streets  are  very  narrow,  which,  com- 
bined with  the  steep  roofs  of  the  houses,  gives  it 
the  air  of  an  old  French  provincial  town.    The 


22  ENLISTING. 

mixture  of  French  and  English  inhabitants, 
commingling  in  their  domestic  habits  the  cus- 
toms of  their  native  lands,  makes  a  strange  pot- 
jpourri  of  manners.  However,  the  peculiar 
characteristics  of  each  seem  uninfluenced  by 
the  other.  It  would  seem  as  impossible  for 
these  two  nations  to  amalgamate,  as  for  oil  and 
water  to  unite.  The  happy  faculty  of  adapting 
one's  prejudices  to  circumstances  seems  a  pecu- 
liarly American  trait,  and  may  almost  be  re- 
garded as  the  national  characteristic  ;  the 
result  probably  of  the  gathering  together  of  so 
many  nationalities  under  the  out-spread  wings 
of  that  responsible  fowl,  the  Apis  of  this  people. 
One  morning  we  went  to  the  convent  of  "  Les 
Soeurs  Grises,"  and  were  shown  all  over  the  vene- 
rable pile  by  quite  a  pretty  sister.  In  an  exqui- 
site little  Gothic  chapel  they  were  celebrating 
mass  for  the  soul  of  a  priest  who  had  recently 
died.  We  paused  at  the  door,  and  silently  lis- 
tened to  the  swell  of  rich  harmony  that  came 
rolling  in  deep  volumes  from  the  organ,  and 
filled  the  air  with  its  full  solemn  cadence.  St. 
Cecilia  herself  might  have  been  touching  the 


ENLISTING.  23 

keys,  so  inspired  the  strains  that  were  poured 
forth,  first  in  the  low,  sad,  prayerful  plead- 
ings of  fallen  humanity,  and  then  in  the  loud 
triumphant  swell  of  "  the  angels  around  the 
throne." 

Before  we  left,  I  asked  our  guide  why  she 
had  become  a  nun.  With  downcast  eyes,  and 
a  sanctified  smile,  she  replied,  that  "  like  Mary, 
she  had  chosen  the  better  part !"  The  "  better 
part"  is  not  always  the  pleasantest,  I  thought, 
if  wearing  a  scanty  grey  gown,  and  being  shut 
Tip  for  life  within  four  stone  walls,  praying  for 
the  forgiveness  of  sins  you  never  have  a  chance 
to  commit,  constitutes  it ;  and  with  these  rather 
carnal  reflections  I  passed  out  of  the  massive 
gates,  fancying  the  heavy  air  that  we  left  behind 
must  have  derived  some  of  its  oppressive  influ- 
ence from  the  many  sighs  for  liberty  that  had 
for  years  been  borne  on  it. 

We  left  Montreal  the  next  morning  in  the 
cars  for  Lake  Champlain.  l^ot  those  miserably 
contrived  cars  filled  with  an  indiscriminate 
crowd  of  males  and  females,  arrayed  in  that 
brown  linen  uniform,  the  national  costume  of 


24:  ENLISTING. 

the  travelling  American  people,  where  high  and 
low  sit  side  by  side ;  where  the  dirty  woman 
with  a  disagreeably  large  band-box,  and  the 
man  who  regales  himself  all  too  profusely  on 
"  plug,"  seem  to  vie  which  shall  most  contribute 
to  your  annoyance ;  but  the  private  European 
coupee,  in  which,  at  some  slight  difference  of 
expense,  a  person  can  travel  as  if  in  his  own 
carriage.  I  have  often  been  surprised,  when 
suffering  from  travelling  annoyances,  that  in  the 
advancement  of  luxury  these  cars  have  never 
been  introduced  upon  our  railroads. 

Stopping  at  St.  John's  (the  port  of  entry  ot 
Lower  Canada),  a  military  station  at  that  time 
unoccupied  (its  spreading,  empty  barracks  look- 
ing very  desolate,  with  no  sounds  of  life  to 
break  the  stillness  around),  we  changed  cars, 
and  in  a  short  time  reached  the  wharf,  and  went 
on  board  the  steamer  that  was  to  take  us  down 
Lake  Champlain,  to  the  point  of  our  destination. 

This  lake  is  celebrated  even  in  our  land^ 
so  rich  in  the  picturesque  and  grand,  for  the 
bold  and  beautiful  scenery  of  its  banks.  The 
gigantic  mountains  seem  piled  in  vast  rocky 


ENLISTING.  25 

masses,  stretcliing  from  the  water's  edge  into 
tlie  clouds,  almost  beyond  siglit,  their  shadows 
reflected  in  the  lake,  as  in  an  azure-tinted 
mirror.  The  sloping  mountain  sides,  with  deep, 
wild  dells  and  waterfalls,  and  piles  of  fir-clad 
rocks ;  the  peaceful  grain-decked  valleys,  with 
rivulets,  and  towns,  and  villages  discernible 
among  them,  formed  an  ever  changing  picture 
of  rural  beauty. 

Towards  afternoon  we  came  in  sight  of  Bur- 
lington, situated  on  the  banks  of  the  lake,  and 
nestling  in  the  arms  of  lofty  mountain  ranges; 
still  clothed  in  their  primeval  forests ;  where 
the  deer  and  wild  animals  yet  hold  possession, 
and  are  only  intruded  upon  by  the  occasional 
adventurous  huntsnian. 

The  bank  on  which  the  town  lies,  is  high 
above  the  level  of  the  water;  the  lake,  like  a 
silver  sheet  glittering  at  its  feet,  spreads  far 
away,  till  lost  in  the  base  of  the  mountains  that 
surround  it,  and  whose  hundred  streams  feed 
its  wealth  of  waters. 


2 


CHAPTEK  n. 


EECEurrmG. 


To  one  wliose  life  lias  been  passed  in  the  bus- 
tling, noisy  din  of  a  large  city,  where  every- 
body that  you  meet  in  the  crowded  streets 
seems  eagerly  bent  on  tlie  pursuit  of  some  ob- 
ject that  must  be  attained,  if  possible,  before 
nightfall ;  where  either  hope,  or  disappoint- 
ment, or  harassing  care  is  stamped  on  almost 
eveiy  face  ;  there  is  a  novel  charm  in  a  sudden 
change  to  rural  life ;  a  delicious  serenity  in 
the  atmosphere  of  a  country  village,  a  repose  in 
the  calm  movements  of  its  inhabitants ;  the 
shaded,  unpaved  streets  (cool  in  the  heat  of 
midsummer) ;  the  neat  green  courtyards,  and 
nicely-trimmed  flower-beds  (from  which  the 
smell  of  pinks,  and  daisies,  and  cottage  roses 
seems  to  breathe  out  "  sweet  simplicity  "),  that 
is  almost  incredible. 


RECETJITING.  27 

Few  signs  of  life  or  animation  are  to  be  seen 
in  those  quiet  cottage  homes.  Occasionally, 
perhaps,  at  the  back  door  of  the  vine-shaded 
piazza,  a  placid  old  lady,  seated  in  her  low 
rocking-chair  shelling  peas,  stopped  for  a  mo- 
ment by  the  sight  of  a  humming-bird  too  dar- 
ing in  its  demonstrations  to  the  roses,  or  a  stray 
fowl  in  the  flower-beds.  These  will  be  the 
events  of  the  day  to  her,  in  her  quiet,  unevent- 
ful existence.  We  smile  at  its  quaint  simpli- 
city, but  perhaps  a  sigh  of  regret  is  mingled  for 
a  moment  with  our  smile. 

I  supposed  that  Burlington  was  one  of  those 
simple,  unexciting  little  places,  as  in  time  it 
proved  to  be,  but  the  first  impressions  were 
anything  but  calm  or  soothing,  as  early  on  the 
following  morning  I  looked  from  the  windows 
of  the  "True  American,"  through  a  greenish 
pane  of  glass,  and  through  a  still  more  refract- 
ing misty  rain.  Under  these  depressing  influ- 
ences I  saw  what  appeared  to  be  the  most  mise- 
rable of  "  one  horse  towns." 

A  square  inclosed  by  a  whitewashed  wooden 
raiKng,  rendered  a  disagreeable  grey  by  the 


28  RECRUITING. 

rain,  ornamented  with  a  pole  in  the  centre,  sur^ 
mounted  by  one  of  the  nmnerous  and  widely- 
diffused  coiffures  of  the  goddess  of  liberty,  and 
surrounded  by  the  principal  stores  of  the  place — 
this  formed  the  view  outside,  occasionally  ani- 
mated by  one  of  the  damp,  moist  population, 
picking  their  way  over  the  grass-grown  brick 
pavements. 

The  inside  of  the  hotel  was  a  degree  more 
insufferable,  and  by  way  of  rendering  my  gloom 
more  pitiable,  the  well-meaning  landlady  pro- 
vided several  "Lady's  Books"  for  my  amuse- 
ment, the  contents  of  which,  however,  were 
such  a  reflection  upon  even  the  limited  capaci- 
ties of  "  ladies"  that  they  gave  only  fresh  cause 
for  aggravation.  A  gentleman  travelling  for 
pleasure,  who  arrived  there  the  second  day 
after  we  did,  was  taken  ill  and  died  in  the  room 
next  to  mine,  which  incident,  although  perhaps 
tending  to  produce  a  salutary  mental  influence, 
was  in  no  way  cheering  to  depressed  spirits. 

After  a  fair  test  of  a  week,  spent  in  reflec- 
tions of  the  most  gloomy  nature  on  the  ills  of  life 
in  general,  and  those  of  a  life  in  Burlington  in 


EECEUITING.  2d 

particular,  it  was  decided  that  life  at  the  "  True 
American"  was  unendurable,  and  by  good  luck  a 
cottage  was  secured  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town. 
It  was  everything  that  could  be  desired.;  the 
velvet  lawn  in  front  was  green  and  closely  sha- 
ven, rose  vines  clung  gracefully  around  the 
porch,  and  not  even  a  cynic  could  have  ima- 
gined love  contemplating  a  leap  from  the  latticed 
window,  or  another  grim  visitor  with  his  hand 
on  the  old-fashioned  knocker.  In  the  rear  was 
a  well  inclosed  with  trellis-work,  whose  moss- 
covered  buckets  looked  cool  and  tempting,  sug- 
gesting, however,  to  a  practical  mind  that  new 
ones  must  be  immediately  obtained,  in  spite  of 
the  romantic  charm  thrown  by  the  poet  around 

*'  The  moss-covered  bucket  that  hung  in  the  well." 

The  only  drawback  to  taking  immediate  pos- 
session of  this  attractive  spot  w^as  the  fact  of  its 
being  quite  devoid  of  furniture;  but  we  were 
told  that  this  deficiency  could  be  speedily  re- 
medied, by  a  cleverish  sort  of  fellow  named 
Koble  Lovely  (which  was  literally  his  cogno- 
men).    He  was  immediately  applied  to,  and 


30  BECRUITING. 

after  an  incredible  space  of  time  spent  in  ask- 
ing questions,  he  cast  his  eyes  around  upon  his 
household  gods,  and  said  :  "  "Well,  neow,  what 
would  you  think  of  a  second-hand  red  plush 
sofy,  and  a  yellow  chanie  spittoon  to  begin 
with?"  This  proposal  was  beyond  human  en- 
durance, and  as  these  articles  were  not  consi- 
dered absolutely  indispensable  in  an  unpretend- 
ing menage,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  with- 
draw, which  induced  Mr.  Lovely  to  speedily 
make  the  necessary  arrangements ;  and,  to  use 
the  technical  Yankee  expression,  "  the  bargain 
was  closed,"  to  the  inexpressible  delight  of  the 
shrewd  and  (not  over)  Noble  Lovely,  who  "  real- 
ized quite  a  little  considerable  "  in  consequence. 
From  the  first  I  imbibed  a  strong  dislike  to  this 
class.  I  do  not  think  these  feelings  were  en- 
tirely without  foundation. 

In  fact  I  may  candidly  confess,  that  I  never 
could  feel  the  necessary  degree  of  enthusiasm  in 
reference  to  our  'New  England  brethren,  or  their 
fundamental  principles  of  the  innate  depravity 
of  the  Pope,  intense  sympathy  for  that  colored 
"  army  of  martyrs  "  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 


RECRUITING,  31 

line,  or  the  infallibility  of  the  pilgrim  fathers. 
On  the  contrary,  I  conceive  the  Pope  may  be  an 
excellent  good  man,  that  those  suffering  and 
bleeding  bondsmen  may  have  an  occasional  ray 
of  sunshine  on  their  dreary  path  of  life,  and  that 
the  way  in  which  the  heroes  of  Plymouth  Rock 
burned  Quakers  and  eccentric  old  ladies  was, 
to  say  the  least,  unamiable. 

We  all,  however,  have  our  prejudices,  in  com- 
mon with  them,  and  I  suppose,  would  hardly  be 
human  without  them. 

Six  months,  comprising  the  severest  of  the 
year,  were  passed  in  Burlington  in  ardent 
endeavors  to  add  to  the  United  States  forces 
as  many  deserters  from  the  ranks  of  her 
majesty  of  England,  as  could  persuade  the  re- 
cruiting sergeant  they  were  regularly  dis- 
charged, and  the  doctor  that  they  were  "  able 
bodied." 

They  were  a  reckless  set  of  men,  generally 
under  five-and-twenty  years  of  age,  a  collection 
probably  of  black  sheep  from  as  many  different 
families ;  some  of  them  well  educated,  and  un- 
doubtedly of  highly  respectable  parentage.     1 


32  RECRUITING. 

can  give  them  the  highest  diploma  for  gal- 
lantry. 

In  fact  there  seems  to  be  something  in  a  uni- 
form that  calls  forth  this  quality  in  its  wearer 
in  the  highest  degree.  Apply  a  uniform  to  a 
man,  and  like  a  mustard  plaster,  it  seems  to 
draw  all  that  is  inflammable  to  the  surface. 

One  or  another  of  the  recruits  was  always  at 
hand,  and  in  turn  they  scoured  the  country  to 
get  anything  that  it  was  not  easy  to  obtain  in 
the  town.  I  often  pitied  them  as  they  flaunted 
about  in  their  gay  trappings  (like  sheep  dressed 
for  the  slaughter),  to  think  how  soon  their  exist- 
ence would  probably  terminate,  on  some  march 
across  the  prairies,  in  the  sickly  swamps  of 
Florida,  or  on  the  perilous  Indian  scout,  shot  by 
the  poisoned  arrow  of  a  Camanche  or  Sioux. 
Between  them  and  the  gamins  of  Burlington, 
there  existed  a  continual  feud.  One  of  the  re- 
cruits (whose  bump  of  combativeness  was  so 
wonderfully  developed  that  it  kept  continually 
knocking  his  cap  off  his  head,  unless  he  resorted 
to  a  strap)  had  to  be  sent  off,  so  constantly 
were  his  pugnacious  tendencies  exhibited  in 


KECRUIXmG.  33 

heading  what  he  graphically  termed  "little 
heat  Tips  "  or  "  knock  downs,"  between  the  con- 
tending parties.  The  soldiers  were  called  U.  S. 
males  (mails)  by  their  opponents,  who  even 
went  so  far  as  to  make  distant  allusions  to  the 
Serjeant's  wife  as  a  U.  S.  female. 

This  remark  was  followed  by  an  exciting  row, 
which  terminated  in  a  series  of  mutilations  and 
dark  rims  around  the  visual  organs  of  most  of 
the  gallant  recruits,  a  squad  of  whom  were 
forthwith  despatched  to  Fort  Columbus — among 
them,  that  troublesome  but  "  hold  soldier  boy  " 
with  the  annoying  cap,  who,  it  was  discovered, 
hailed  from  Kilkenny,  which  most  satisfactorily 
accounted  for  the  excrescences  behind  his  ears. 


2* 


CHAPTEE  TIL 


BURLINGTON. 


Startling  incidents  never  occurred  in  Bur- 
lington. ]N^one  ever  liad  occurred  there,  and 
none  probably  ever  will.  The  advent  of  a 
stranger  was  an  important  event,  so  few  people 
ever  came  there.  A  stray  artist,  or  lingering 
traveller,  fascinated  by  the  shadows  of  the 
Adirondack,  as  they  fell  into  the  lake,  or  an 
occasional  acquaintance  passing  through  on  the 
way  from  the  White  Mountains  to  Saratoga, 
were  always  welcome  visitors. 

The  most  unfailing  resource  was  driving  and 
riding.  The  beautiful  scenery,  the  bracing 
October  air,  and  the  forest-clad  mountains, 
arrayed  in  their  autumnal  robes  of  crimson, 
amethyst,  and  royal  purple,  rendered  out-of- 
door  exercise  peculiarly  exhilarating  and  attrac- 
tive. 


BURLINGTON.  35 

.  The  term  "  Yermont  horses"  was  soon  after 
our  arrival  most  potently  realized  in  the  pos- 
session of  a  pair  of  dapple  greys  worthy  of  the 
horse-flesh  reputation  of  their  native  State,  with 
arching  necks,  long  silken  manes  and  tails,  eyes 
full  of  spirit,  and  feet  that  seemed  to  disdain 
the  ground.  To  drive  them  was  emphatically 
"  driving  a  team  I"  They  went  miles  and  miles 
every  day,  like  the  wind,  either  in  harness  or 
under  the  saddle,  and  were  the  "  Green  Moun- 
tain boys"  that  left  the  deepest  impression  on 
my  heart.  Country  pleasures  are  enchanting, 
if  we  can  forget  the  more  alluring  ones  of  a 
civilized  metropolis !  One  of  the  most  attrac- 
tive drives  in  the  neighborhood  is  over  a  fine, 
well-beaten  road  to  Rock  Point,  the  picturesque 
residence  of  Bishop  Hopkins,  of  the  Episcopal 
church  of  this  State.  His  place  is  beautifully 
situated  north  of  the  town,  on  a  small  promon- 
tory that  stretches  into  the  lake.  It  is  a  farm 
of  some  extent ;  the  drive  from  the  gate  to  the 
house,  of  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  through  a 
park  and  lawn  (that  owe  much  to  Nature  and 
little  to  Art  for  their  woodland  beauties),  is 


36  BUELINGTON. 

quite  imposing.  Fine  forest  trees,  scattered  in 
groups,  abound  all  over  the  domain.  The  house 
is  quite  unpretending,  but  its  situation  is  mag- 
nificent, commanding  a  view  of  the  lake,  and 
the  town  of  Burlington  in  the  distance,  with  a 
gorgeous  background  of  mountain  scenery,  made 
up  of  the  numerous  bright  lights  and  deep  sha- 
dows peculiar  to  this  region  of  country. 

The  interior  of  the  house  bears  impress  of 
the  liome  of  the  scholar  and  man  of  taste ;  the 
library  opening  on  a  piazza  by  an  enormous 
oriel  window,  from  which,  through  clambering 
honeysuckle  vines,  you  can  enjoy  one  of  the 
grandest  pictures  ever  sketched  by  nature  on 
earth's  fair  tablet. 

The  walls  of  the  library  are  covered  with 
paintings,  the  work  of  the  artistic  hand  of 
Bishop  H.,  who  is  generally  to  be  found  sitting 
in  this  room  at  his  desk,  writing  tracts  and 
religious  essays  for  the  press,  to  send  forth  into 
the  world  from  his  secluded  home,  like  the 
BOwer  of  holy  writ  casting  forth  his  seed. 

His  tall  athletic  form,  grey  hair,  somewhat 
stern  expression  of  countenance  and  rigid  views 


BURLINGTON.  37 

of  life,  reminded  me  of  the  apostles  of  old,  or 
our  Huguenot  fathers,  who  so  readily  sacrificed 
their  worldly  interests  "  for  conscience  sake." 

The  autumn  soon  deepened  into  the  gloom  of 
ITovember,  the  weather  became  cold  and  bleak. 
The  ground  was  strewn  with  fallen  leaves.    The 

"  Wind,  that  grand  old  harper,  smote 
His  thunder  harp  of  pines." 

Soon  the  earth  arrayed  itself  in  a  holiday 
attire  of  six  feet  of  dazzling  snow,  the  trees 
brilliant  with  icicles  shone  radiantly  in  the  sun- 
light, and  the  hardy  little  snow  birds,  scattered 
over  this  brilliant  carpet  of  the  north,  were  the 
only  vestige  of  the  summer  that  had  fled  into 
the  past — while  the  gay  inspiriting  sound  of 
sleigh-bells  seemed  to  give  warning  that  the 
season  for  Christmas  festivities  was  approach- 
ing. 

Tlie  morning  after  the  first  snow-storm  we 
awoke  in  utter  darkness,  and  found  ourselves 
completely  embedded  in  snow,  which  reached  to 
the  top  of  the  second  story  windows ;  but  by 
noon  eight  or  ten  of  the  gallant  recruits  had  cut 


38  BURLINGTON. 

a  passage  to  the  house,  and  removed  the  greater 
part  of  the  snow-drift  in  which  we  had  been 
buried  alive. 

The  sleighing  was  unsurpassable,  but  the  in- 
tense cold  of  the  frosty  cutting  air  spoiled  the 
enjoyment  of  it.  At  times  exposure  was  next 
to  impossible ;  the  thermometer  fifteen  degrees 
below  zero  was  no  uncommon  thing.  Any  one 
who  has  passed  a  winter  in  the  northern  part  of 
Yermont  on  the  side  of  one  of  its  bleak  moun- 
tains, and  on  the  shores  of  its  great  lake,  would 
not  be  surprised  that  Sir  John  Franklin  has 
never  been  discovered,  but  that  any  human 
being  has  ever  returned  alive  from  the  arctic 
regions  of  "  Jack  Frost." 

Christmas  was  heralded  by  sleigh-loads  of 
evergreens  driven  towards  the  church,  and  even 
candies  and  penny  toys  made  their  appearance 
in  the  shop-windows  to  tempt  this  prudent  race 
from  their  wonted  frugality. 

The  arrival  of  several  American  officers,  de- 
tained here  by  a  storm  on  their  way  to  a  court- 
martial,  and  the  presence  of  several  young  Ca- 
nadian guardsmen  bound  to  New  York  for  a 


BUELINGTON.  39 

"  spree,"  tempted  me  to  essay  a  Cliristmas-Eve 
ball. 

The  house  was  decorated  with  evergreens, 
and  on  truly  republican  principle  there  was 
not  a  pretty  girl  in  Burlington  who  was  not 
asked. 

On  the  appointed  evening  at  about  seven 
o'clock  (sweet  simplicity!)  the  guests  com- 
menced to  arrive. 

Two  fiddlers  and  a  drummer- boy,  with  a  cold 
in  his  head,  formed  the  band ;  the  ball  termi- 
nated at  midnight,  proving  a  great  success. 

It  was  however  quite  late  in  the  small  hours, 
before  our  officers  and  the  "royal  Canadian 
guardsmen"  had  drunk  their  last  libation  to  the 
Queen,  and  "  Jimmy  Polk  of  Tennessee."  They 
finally  parted,  with  many  promises  of  soon 
meeting  again  ;  but  in  the  army,  such  promises 
amounted  to  an  absurdity,  for  beyond 

"  Wafts  of  song 
From  arm-linked  youths  as  they  meandered  home  1" 

and  severa*  cards  containing  ^ye  or  six  aristo- 


40  BUKLINGTON. 

cratic  names  apiece,  we  have  never  heard  from 
them  since. 

A  few  months  saw  us  on  the  confines  ot 
Mexico,  while  they  were  journeying  towards 
the  burning  plains  of  India. 

One  individual  who  figured  on  this  occasion 
is  worth  a  word  of  notice.  A  person  represent- 
ing himself  as  an  English  gentleman,  travelling 
in  this  country  for  amusement  and  information, 
had  arrived  in  Burlington  that  autumn,  and 
taken  rooms  at  the  hotel.  Although  not  a  par- 
ticularly attractive  or  agreeable  man,  he  was 
not  the  opposite,  and  in  dearth  of  other  society, 
became  quite  a  habitue  at  some  of  the  most 
respectable  citizens'  houses.  He  had  a  dog-cart, 
horses,  guns,  and  pointers,  and  professed  to  be 
a  great  sportsman.  He  was  very  devoted  in  his 
attentions  to  a  young  Canadian  girl,  and  a  hand- 
some widow,  who  were  considered  by  the  public 
to  be  rivals,  between  whom  this  gay  deceiver 
was  wavering. 

He  had  had  very  extensive  dealings  with  the 
bank,  which  at  first  imposed  on  the  community, 
and  then  excited  suspicion.     One  day  he  sud- 


BURLINGTON.  4:1 

denly  disappeared,  and  no  traces  of  him  were  to 
be  found,  leaving  liis  lady-loves  disconsolate, 
and  carrying  with  him  quite  a  sum  of  money 
that  he  had  obtained  by  fraud. 

The  following  year  he  was  traced  to  a  seclud- 
ed western  village,  where  a  repetition  of  similar 
amorous  and  financial  performances  had  render- 
ed suspicion  certainty,  and  finally  lodged  him 
safely  in  a  penitentiary,  where  he  could  expiate 
his  rascality  by  the  harmless  pastime  of  hewing 
stone  or  making  shoes.  It  is  easy  to  picture 
him  in  the  mind's  eye,  in  a  woven  wool  round- 
about and  trousers,  one  yellow  leg  and  arm,  and 
one  black,  with  a  cap  to  match,  pursuing  the 
even  tenor  of  his  way  on  a  daily  meal  of  bean 
broth  and  ship  biscuit,  his  conversation  limited 
to  an  occasional  whisper  through  the  register 
tubes  to  the  prisoner  in  the  next  cell,  at  the  risk 
of  a  severe  penalty  for  even  this  slender  mode 
of  communication  with  his  kind. 

I  never  could  define  this  person's  position ;  no 
aspirated  K  betrayed  the  low-born  Englishman, 
and,  judging  by  his  conversation,  his  education 
must  have  been  quite   superior;   banking   and 


42  BURLINGTON. 

the  fair  sex  were  evidently  his  weaknesses,  and 
the  rocks  on  which  he  foundered. 

Variety  is  to  life  what  rum  is  to  an  omelette  ; 
it  gives  it  piquancy,  or  to  be  still  more  original, 
it  is  its  spice ;  and  at  the  time  I  thought,  if  I  had 
stayed  at  home,  I  never  should  have  come  in 
contact  with  that  peculiar  specimen  of  ornitho- 
logy yclept  a  jail  bird.  After  events,  however, 
proved  that  candidates  at  least  for  this  position 
were  not  so  rare,  even  in  a  !N"ew  York  drawing- 
room,  as  the  unsophisticated  might  suppose. 
"  He  who  runs  may  read  I" 


CHAPTEK  W. 

"  ORDERS." 

In  January  orders  arrived  from  Washington 
to  break  up  the  recruiting  rendezvous  at  Bur- 
lington, and  join  the  first  regiment  of  United 
States  Infantry  at  Einggold  Barracks,  Texas,  on 
the  Lower  Rio  Grande. 

After  the  arrival  of  a  dispatch  of  this  nature 
from  the  "War  Department,  there  is  no  time  al- 
lowed to  pause  and  reflect.  Prompt  obedience 
is  the  first  lesson  a  soldier  must  learn. 

"  Theirs  not  to  make  reply, 
Theirs  not  to  reason  why, 
Theirs  but  to  do  and  die." 

So,  after  twenty-four  hours'  notice,  we  quitted 
Burlington  for  ever,  passing  down  the  lake  on  a 
dismal  winter  day,  the  steamer  breaking  with 
difficulty  through  fields  of  ice  that  blocked  its 
passage  to  Whitehall,  where  we  were  detained 


44  ORDERS. 

several  hours,  waiting  for  the  northern  train  of 
cars  that  was  to  convey  us  to  Albany.  "White- 
hall lies  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Champlain,  in  the 
State  of  'New  York.  During  the  short  time 
spent  there  I  saw  more  specimens  of  the  genus 
loafer  than  I  had  imagined  could  exist — from  the 
grey-haired,  seedy,  dock  habitue,  to  the  stinted, 
half-starved,  little  object,  who  seemed  hardly 
large  enough  to  hold  the  cigar  in  his  mouth, 
which  he  affected  to  enjoy  extremely,  although 
it  evidently  disagreed  with  him. 

One  importunate  vendor  of  illustrated  news- 
papers, about  a  foot  and  a  half  high,  with  gar- 
ments so  wonderfully  ragged,  that  if  once  taken 
off  they  could  never  by  any  possibility  have  been 
put  on  again,  tried  every  inducement  he  could 
conceive  of  to  tempt  purchasers  into  the  expen- 
diture of  sixpence. 

One  man,  to  get  rid  of  him,  said  he  did  not 
know  how  to  read.  ^' But  you  can  look  at 
jpicters^''  said  the  indomitable  young  merchant, 
and  his  shrewdness  secured  a  customer ! 

I  knew  instinctively  that  he  came  from  Ver- 
mont, and  had  been  taught  in  one  of  its  district 


ORDERS.  45 

schools  to  count  his  pennies  as  soon  as  he  could 
talk,  and  that  the  chief  end  and  aim  of  man's 
existence  was  to  accumulate  "  York  shillings." 
I  thought  it  quite  probable  that  fifty  years 
hence  would  see  him  "  a  merchant  prince,"  roll- 
ing in  wealth  acquired  by  this  same  "  business 
tact ! "  As  has  been  frequently  before  remarked, 
we  are  a  great  and  wonderful  people  ! 

The  principal  public  buildings  at  Whitehall 
seemed  to  be  railroad  depots  and  refreshment 
saloons,  a  sight  of  whose  edibles  was  anything  but 
refreshing.  Trains  of  cars  leave  here  for  every 
point  of  the  compass,  and  in  consequence  news- 
paper and  lozenge  boys  "  here  most  do  con- 
gregate," and  successful  pickpockets  revel  in 
rifled  items. 

There  is  here  a  large,  well-built  Catholic 
church,  and  the  money  that  should  have  gone 
legitimately  towards  patching  the  elbows  and 
cobbling  the  shoes  of  the  vagrant  inhabitants, 
had  evidently  been  used  to  pay  penance  for 
their  numerous  sins. 

The  cars  took  us  that  evening  to  Albany, 
that  most  respectable  of  Dutch  Reformed  cities, 


46  ORDERS. 

whose  more  venerable  inhabitants  have  lost  so 
few  of  their  honest  Dutch  prejudices  against 
modern  innovation;  yet  who  does  not  regret 
that  their  quaintly  gabled  homesteads  are  yearly 
becoming  rarer,  and  their  crumbling  moss-grown 
gravestones,  and  great  family  bibles  with  brass 
clasps  (reverently  preserved),  are  all  that  is 
left  to  tell  of  the  Diedrichs  and  Johannas,  and 
their  fair-haired  Katalinas,  who  came  there  a 
hundred  years  ago,  from  the  Netherlands  ? 

On  arriving  in  Kew  York  we  found  a  further 
reprieve,  by  which  we  were  spared  the  disagree- 
able necessity  of  being  accompanied  on  a  trans- 
port ship  by  two  or  three  hundred  valiant  re- 
cruits, who,  as  the  sequel  proved,  indulged 
themselves  on  the  voyage  l^y  the  exciting  pas- 
time of  a  mutiny,  which  resulted  in  the  shooting 
of  that  chivalrous  recruit  who  had  caused  so 
much  excitement  and  trouble  in  Burlington. 
He  recovered,  however,  from  his  wounds,  and 
became  afterwards  an  excellent  soldier,  who 
has  probably  ere  this 

"  Met  a  foeman  worthier  of  his  steel' 

than  his  commanding  officer. 


ORDERS.  47 

The  departure  for  Texas  was  delayed  until 
the  month  of  April,  when  we  sailed  in  the 
steamship  "  Ohio,"  bound  for  !N'ew  Orleans,  via 
the  Havana.  Its  gallant  commander  (com- 
manders are  always  gallant,  or  ought  to  be)  was 
so  kind  to  me,  that  I  would  add  a  public  eulogy 
to  the  many  private  ones  I  have  pronounced  on 
him,  if  it  were  in  good  taste  to  do  so.  His  in- 
variable kindness  and  good-humor  were  almost 
a  cure  for  sea-sickness,  that  most  doleful  of  all 
the  maladies  which  flesh  is  heir  to. 

There  was  on  board  a  very  agreeable  and 
amusing  party,  and  in  the  informal  intercourse 
of  a  sea  voyage  the  time  passed  rapidly. 

The  only  drawback  to  its  pleasure  was  the 
slight  one  of  being  totally  deprived  of  "  balmy 
sleep,"  by  a  nightly  row  in  the  opposite  state- 
room, not  at  all  propitious  to  the  cultivation  of 
"  nature's  sweet  restorer  !"  It  was  occupied  by  a 
family  of  (two  or  three  dozen,  I  should  think) 
small  infants,  under  the  charge  of  an  old  black 
"  aunty,"  who  was  kept  in  a  continual  state  of 
excitement,  all  being  sea-sick  at  the  same  time : 
and  to  the  daily  inquiries  of  the  head  of  the 


48  ORDEKvS. 

family  after  tlieir  progress,  I  heard  the  invaria- 
ble and  discouraging  reply  of  "  sick,  massa  !  all 
hands !  " 

We  were  a  good  deal  in  sight  of  land,  and 
kept  in  view  the  shores  of  Maryland,  Delaware, 
and  the  Carolinas.  When  off  the  coast  of  Flo- 
rida we  came  near  enough  to  land  to  see  the 
wreckers  at  work  on  a  large  ship,  that  had  been 
abandoned  by  its  crew. 

These  wreckers  are  a  miserable,  unprincipled, 
ignorant  race,  who  live  on  the  sea-coast,  where, 
on  account  of  its  peculiar  formation,  accidents 
are  very  numerous.  Their  only  means  of  sub- 
sistence depending  upon  the  losses  and  misfor- 
tunes of  their  fellow-men,  they  seem  to  be  the 
last  traces  left,  in  North  America,  of  the  buca- 
neer  or  sea-robber  race. 

The  same  afternoon,  some  hours  later,  in  pass 
ing  the  reefs,  we  saw  a  brig  with  its  flag  of  dis- 
tress up.  Our  captain  ordered  the  small  boat 
to  their  relief,  and  they  soon  landed  on  our  deck 
fifteen  passengers,  besides  the  crew ;  they  were 
all  Spaniards,  who  had  left  Cuba  but  a  few  days 
before,  with  a  cargo  of  sugar,  bound  for  Spain, 


ORDERS.  49 

but  were  obliged,  at  this  early  period  of  their 
voyage,  to  abandon  their  ship  and  cargo  to  the 
mercy  of  the  wind,  the  waves,  and  the  wreckers, 
and  were  soon  landed  by  ns  at  the  Havana. 
"We  were  now  within  the  current  of  the  Gulf 
Stream. 

That  night  of  moonlight  on  a  southern  sea ! 
It  seems  a  dream  in  retrospect.  Tlie  moon  min- 
gled its  soft  light  with  the  balmy  delicious  air 
as  it  arose,  and  faintly  illuminated  the  still  blue 
waters ;  while  spicy  odors  from  the  shore  told 
that  it  was  Cuba  that  lay  before  us,  stretching 
in  that  misty,  indistinct  line  in  the  distance. 
Cuba,  that  beautiful  gem  of  the  Mexican  gulf, 
whose  breath  is  ffagrance,  whom  ISTature  seems 
to  have  chosen  (in  one  of  her  most  prodigal 
freaks)  to  have  showered  with  all  the  rarest  and 
most  precious  of  her  gifts. 

Later  on  that  night,  bright  and  luminous 
above  us,  rose  the  Southern  Cross,  emblazoned 
in  characters  of  gold  upon  the  deep  ground- 
work of  the  midnight  sky. 


CHAPTEE  Y. 

THE   TK0PIC8. 

*  Yet  waft  me  from  the  harbor's  mouth, 
Wild  wind !  I  seek  a  warmer  sky, 
And  I  will  see  before  I  die 
The  palms  and  temples  of  the  South." 

Tennyson. 

The  next  morning  we  awoke  in  full  sight  of 
tlie  island  of  Cuba,  and  by  ten  o'clock  a.m.  had 
dropped  anchor  in  the  harbor  of  Havana  (said 
to  be  the  finest  in  the  world). 

"Who  will  ever  forget  their  first  impression  of 
the  tropics  !  The  rich  emerald  of  the  luxuriant 
verdure,  the  glowing,  rosy  tint  of  sky  and  sea, 
and  the  delicious,  dreamy  softness  of  the  air! 
The  palm  trees,  in  full  relief  against  the  warmly- 
tinted  skies,  call  to  mind  the  loves  of  Paul  and 
Virginia.  Breathing  the  atmosphere  seems  like 
reading  a  chapter  from  the  Koran  while 


THE   TROPICS.  61 

"  In  every  change  of  earth  and  sea, 
Breathes  the  deep  soul  of  poesy." 

The  battlements  of  Moro  Castle,  apparently 
rising  abruptly  from  the  sea,  the  spires  and 
brilliantly-colored  palaces  of  Havana,  glittering 
in  the  sunlight  of  a  summer  morning,  the  back- 
ground of  the  mountains  of  Sierra  del  Cobre, 
studded  with  country-seats  and  picturesque  ham- 
lets, formed  a  picture  at  once  novel  and  strik- 
ingly beautiful. 

After  the  usual  preliminaries,  and  a  most 
ceremonious  visit  from  the  Spanish  authorities, 
who  came  in  a  brightly-decorated  barge  with 
striped  red  and  white  awnings,  and  the  Spanish 
flag  in  the  stern,  manned  by  twenty  liveried 
oarsmen,  only  surpassed  in  the  gaudy  taste  of 
their  dress  by  the  oflScers,  whose  uniforms,  rib- 
bons, and  stars  seemed  much  more  abundant 
than  the  occasion  required.  They  finally  as- 
sured themselves  that  we  were  only  a  peaceful 
set  of  travellers,  and  not  an  invading  army  of 
filibusters.  The  passports  were  duly  made  out 
and  paid  for,  and  then  these  worthies  departed. 
It  was  no  great  deprivation  to  lose  sight  of  their 


53  THE  TROPICS. 

Ugly,  swarthy  faces,  tliat  beamed  with  anything 
but  benevolence  or  beauty. 

Finally,  we  passed  down  the  ladder  at  the 
vessel's  side  to  the  boat  that  awaited  ns,  were 
rowed  swiftly  to  the  shore,  and  landed  on  a 
dock,  piled  with  sugar  barrels  and  boxes,  on 
which  reclined  groups  of  negro  slaves  in  the 
lightest  possible  attire,  while  others  were  load- 
ing and  unloading  cargoes. 

Many  younger  scions  of  Africa  were  loitering 
about,  who  proved,  by  licking  the  sides  of  the 
molasses  barrels,  that  the  propensities  of  youth 
are  alike  in  all  climes  and  among  all  races. 

In  Havana,  garments,  like  discretion  or  expe- 
rience, come  with  age  ;  they  are  quite  unknown 
to  the  younger  portion  of  the  inhabitants. 

"We  soon  found  ourselves  in  a  hotel,  quite  no- 
vel in  all  its  phases  to  the  untravelled  Ameri- 
can. Saloons  paved  with  tesselated  marble, 
and  shaded  by  blinds  to  a  cool  twilight ;  the 
windows  open  to  the  floor,  and  latticed  with 
iron  trellis-work,  looking  out  on  a  court-yard 
luxuriant  with  tropical  verdure ;  the  windows 
have  no  sashes  or  glass  to  shut  out  from  the 


THE   TROPICS.  53 

interior  the  lightest  breath  of  sumiier.  The 
raassive  front  doors  of  all  the  houses  are  orna- 
mented with  iron  bars,  made  to  stand  attacks 
from  without,  so  continually  do  the  upper  classes 
live  in  dread  of  revolution  and  assault.  Divans 
of  cane- work  and  rocking-chairs  seem  to  be  the 
principal  articles  of  furniture. 

"We  were  almost  immediately  shown  to  a 
room,  floored  with  brick,  and  provided  with 
iron  furniture,  on  the  way  up  obtaining  a  large 
bunch  of  exotics,  bought  from  a  young  n egress 
flower-girl,  who  was  seated  at  the  head  of  the 
stairway. 

At  dinner,  the  table  was  piled  with  rare  flow- 
ers and  fruits,  and  the  "  imprisoned  sunshine"  of 
the  golden  hock,  and  crimson  claret,  round  the 
miniature  icebergs  in  the  "  flowing  cup,"  with 
the  piles  of  pineapples,  bananas,  pomegranates, 
and  nectarines,  seemed  entirely  to  take  from  the 
stern  reality  of  roast  beef.  In  fact,  the  meals 
here  reminded  me  of  the  tea-parties  which  Mil- 
ton describes,  as  given  by  Eve  to  her  angelic 
guests  in  the  beautiful  bowers  of  Eden. 

After  dinner  comes  "the  siesta,"  and  ther 


54  THE  TEOPICS. 

tlie  recreations  of  the  day  commence.  A  dress 
of  muslin,  sans  chapeau^  is  sufficient  protection 
against  the  weather,  and  all  that  custom  exacts 
for  the  "  toilette"  of  an  afternoon  drive. 

The  volante,  the  vehicle  of  this  country,  is  at 
the  door  before  six  o'clock.  To  those  who  have 
ridden  in  them,  a  description  would  be  super- 
fluous, and  to  those  who  have  not,  it  will  be 
almost  impossible.  Its  lazy  motion  as  it  moves 
along  hardly  disturbs  the  soft  atmosphere. 

Our  volante,  hired  by  the  day  during  our 
short  stay,  was  the  property  of  a  Cuban  noble- 
man, who  had  retired  to  his  country-seat  among 
the  mountains,  and  left  it  and  his  coachman  in 
town,  to  be  hired  by  strangers.  He  must  pro- 
bably have  been  "  hard  up,"  judging  by  this 
proceeding,  but  this  is  merely  a  natural  surmise. 
It  was  "  got  up  "  in  most  gorgeous  style,  and  in 
the  gaudy  taste  peculiar  to  Spanish- Americans. 
Its  body,  what  we  would  call  a  tilbury  on  a 
large  scale,  the  top  shifting,  the  pole  double  the 
length  of  one  of  our  ordinary  vehicles,  which 
consequently  leaves  quite  a  space  between  the 
body  of  the  volante  and  the  mules  that  draw  it. 


THE  TKOPICS.  55 

These  latter  were  fat,  and  beautifully  groomed, 
and  trapped  in  gold  and  crimson  cloth,  one  of 
them  being  ridden  k  la  postillion  by  the  driver. 

The  Cuban  "  whips  "  are  in  themselves  quite 
a  study.  A  jacket,  a  la  Grecque,  of  crimson  cloth, 
embossed  with  gold,  falling  open  and  exhibiting 
a  gaily  trimmed  vest,  and  linen  edged  with  deep 
lace  ruffles,  tights,  and  top  boots,  inlaid,  and 
finished  round  the  top  with  gold  fringe,  and  a 
cord  and  tassel  of  the  same.  A  beaver  hat,  with 
a  broad  gold  band  and  cockade,  complete  their 
stylish  outfit. 

These  liveries  are  always  gay,  sometimes  ele- 
gant, and  at  times  bordering  on  the  grotesque. 

A  volante,  with  all  its  charms,  would  be  as 
much  out  of  place  in  a  city  of  the  United  States, 
as  a  trotting  waggon  and  pair  of  fast  horses 
would  be  at  the  Plaza  de  Armes  of  Havana. 

Our  first  drive  embraced  a  great  deal.  It 
first  took  us  through  the  town,  towards  the  sub- 
urbs ;  it  was  the  hour  of  evening  vespers,  and  the 
chimes  were  tolling  out  their  call  to  devotion. 
The  Spanish  donnas,  in  their  black  lace  veils, 
holding  rosaries  in   their  hands,   followed  by 


56  THE  TROPICS. 

negro  slaves  in  livery  bearing  their  prayer- 
books,  looked  very  picturesque. 

In  some  places  the  streets  are  so  narrow,  that 
opposite  neighbors  could  shake  hands  from  the 
-  windows,  if  so  inclined. 

I^egresses,  selling  bouquets  and  bunches  of 
loose  flowers,  spread  out  in  tempting  array  in 
large  flat  shallow  baskets,  which  they  balance 
gracefully  on  their  heads  when  they  walk,  are 
to  be  seen  in  all  directions  sitting  at  the  corners 
of  the  streets,  where  they  display  their  beautiful 
articles  of  merchandise. 

There  is,  I  was  told,  quite  a  large  free  co- 
lored population  in  Havana.  Here  you  often 
meet  with  the  genuine  native  of  Southern 
Africa,  caught  from  the  wilderness  by  the  slave 
trader,  but  a  few  years  before. 

If  we  could  compare  these  brutal  animal  fea- 
tures, and  lack  of  all  intellect,  to  the  "  Uncle 
Toms"  and  "Aunt  Chloes"  of  our  land,  we 
might  be  convinced  that  from  one  point  of 
view  at  least,  slavery  might  be  regarded  as  a 
blessing  instead  of  "  a  curse." 


CHAPTEE  yi. 


HAVANA. 


A  DRIVE  to  the  "Bishop's  Garden"  through 
the  suburbs  of  Havana,  seemed  like  shifting 
scenes  from  fairy  land.  Beautiful  villas  skirted 
the  road  on  either  side,  some  of  a  pale  blue 
color,  some  rose,  and  other  delicate  hues  of 
stucco,  surrounded  by  gardens  beyond  descrip- 
tion lovely — while  delicious 

"Odor  was  upon  the  breeze, 
Sweet  thefts  of  rose  and  lemon  trees." 

We  could  see  directly  through  the  houses 
(the  doors  and  windows  being  open  and  latticed 
with  iron)  into  the  gardens  in  the  rear,  where, 
among  fountains  and  arbors,  children  with  their 
attendants  were  scattered  in  every  direction. 

On  each  piazza  were  long  rows  of  Yankee 
rocking  chairs  filled  with  different  members  of 
the  family,  rocking  slowly  backward  and  forward, 


68  HAVANA. 

producing  a  very  absurd  effect,  and  giving  a  goou 
idea  of  the  enervating  habits  of  the  inhabitants. 

Some  of  the  nobility  live  in  a  style  of  eastern 
magnificence,  with  an  enormous  retinue  of 
slaves  in  attendance. 

"When  we  arrived  at  the  bishop's  garden  we 
alighted  at  the  entrance.  It  was  the  former 
residence  of  the  Roman  Catholic  bishop  of 
Cuba,  about  five  or  six  miles  out  of  the 
city.  The  house  had  been  destroyed  by  a 
hurricane  some  years  before,  but  the  ruins  still 
remain.  We  entered  these  beautiful  domains 
on  foot,  leaving  our  volante  at  the  entrance. 

How  can  I  find  words  to  describe  the  over- 
whelming surfeit  that  this  garden  gives  to  the 
sense  of  the  beautiful ;  every  tropical  plant  and 
tree  grows  in  unpruned  and  wild  luxuriance. 
Cape  jessamine  hedges,  japonicas,  tea-roses,  and 
passion  flowers,  in  profusion.  I  remember  one 
of  these  latter  vines,  running  up  the  side  of  a 
giant  mahogany  tree,  its  foliage  of  deep  green, 
bright  with  blossoms,  waving  about  its  branches 
like  a  richly  gemmed  drapery. 

We  saw  here  the  remains  of  a  former  zoologi- 


HAVANA.  59 

cal  garden,  at  present  but  poorly  maintained. 
Among  other  novelties  was  an  alligator,  but  my 
preconceived  ideas  of  this  animal,  gathered  from 
the  graphic  pen  of  Peter  Parley,  who  paints  him 
and  the  duplicity  of  his  character  in  such  vivid 
and  fearful  terms,  made  my  visit  to  him  of  very 
short  duration.  His  terrible  jaws  and  deceitful 
expression  of  countenance,  seemed  fully  to 
justify  all  the  censures  that  his  various  bio- 
graphers have  bestowed  upon  him. 

The  birds  were  very  attractive ;  their  bright 
plumage  of  various  shades  of  lemon  and  rose 
color,  and  their  graceful  forms,  were  beautiful 
even  to  an  ignorant  person,  whose  dim  recollec- 
tion of  their  Latin  names  and  classifications  was 
almost  disgraceful  in  these  palmy  days  of  the 
general  diffusion  of  knowledge. 

Several  negroes  were  here  at  work  with  balls 
and  chains  attached  to  their  ankles,  which 
served  the  purposes  of  anchors ;  they  were  con- 
victs, who  were  thus  employed  by  the  govern- 
ment, to  keep  the  grounds  in  order,  their  sole 
attire  a  jupon  of  about  a  foot  long,  resembling 
a  scanty  ruffle,  around  the  waist. 


60  HAVANA. 

Magnolia,  pomegranate,  and  pine-apple  trees, 
coffee,  tobacco,  and  sngar-cane,  were  growing 
in  the  open  air.  Everything  that  we  are  only 
used  to  see  in  dried  specimens,  in  stores,  or  on 
the  table,  here  grew,  as  the  most  hardy  grain 
does  in  our  climate. 

Simple  existence  is  enjoyment  in  this  deli- 
cious atmosphere,  so  balmy  the  air,  so  exquisite 
the  perfume  wafted  on  each  breeze.  Yet,  like 
the  whitened  sepulchre,  within  all  is  corruption. 
A  tarantula  or  scorpion  lies  in  ambush  under 
many  a  lovely  blossom,  and  the  breath  of 
"  the  pestilence  that  walketh  in  the  noonday," 
is  mingled  with  the  perfumed  breeze  that  is 
wafted  over  this  beautiful  "  gem  of  the  ocean," 
this  waning  "  lone- star"  that  pleads  through  its 
silent  and  crushed  people  to  join  our  constella- 
tion. 

To  the  Cubans  the  word  freedom  is  a  mockery ; 
the  suspicious  and  vigilant  watchfulness  prac 
tised  by  the  Spanish  authorities  is  almost  in- 
credible to  us. 

It  must  be  the  impulse  of  every  generous 
heart,  who  gains  the  merest  insight  into  the 


HAVANA.  61 

dreadful  system  of  taxation  and  oppression, 
suffered  by  the  inhabitants  of  this  colony  of 
Spain,  to  become  a  filibuster  in  feeling  if  not  in 
principle. 

The  people  are  eagerly  listening  for  the 
watchword  of  revolution,  and  it  is  the  earnest 
wish  of  all  but  the  emissaries  of  the  Spanish 
throne,  to  see  Cuba  enrolled  in  our  union. 

Philanthropy  more  than  aggrandizement 
should  be  our  motive  for  its  annexation. 

In  returning  from  our  drive,  as  we  passed 
along,  "  the  light  from  alabaster  lamps"  in  the 
interior  of  the  houses,  mingling  with  the  soft 
rays  of  the  moon  outside,  lighted  up  the  gar- 
dens and  the  porches,  and  gave  a  subdued  effect 
to  the  surrounding  country.  As  we  approached 
the  town,  and  entered  the  Paseo  de  Isabella, 
the  gas-lights  began  to  glimmer  from  the  city, 
the  marble  statues  shone  pale  and  ghostly  in 
the  moon's  light,  and  the  glistening  flowers, 
laden  with  evening's  dews,  sent  forth  an  odor, 
with  which  the  air  was  heavily  laden. 

This  Paseo,  called  after  the  present  queen- 
mother  of  Spain,  is  ornamented  by  her  statue, 


62  HAVANA. 

taken  in  chfldhood,  the  innocent  expression  of 
its  soft  infantile  features  bearing  but  little  im- 
press of  the  characteristics  which  now  dis- 
tinguish that  royal  ladj. 

It  is  a  miniature  park,  laid  out  in  drives  and 
foot-paths,  and  ornamented  with  flower-beds, 
fountains,  marble  seats,  and  statuary. 

The  opera-house  (which  at  this  season  was 
closed),  a  sumptuously  furnished  cafe,  and  some 
of  the  magnificent  palaces  of  the  aristocracy, 
front  this  Paseo. 

After  lingering  here  awhile,  we  drove  to  the 
Plaza  des  Armas,  or  Champs  de  Mars,  fronting 
the  residence  of  the  governor,  a  marble  palace 
surrounded  by  a  garden,  in  the  centre  of  which 
was  a  colossal  fountain,  surmounted  by  a  statue 
of  one  of  the  numerous  Spanish  Ferdinands. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  Plaza  the  govern- 
ment buildings  and  barracks  are  situated. 

Every  evening  the  military  band  plays  in  front 
of  the  governor's  palace  for  several  hours. 
Spanish  soldiers  lounge  about  with  their  insepa- 
rable cigaritas,  while  the  officers  pay  their 
devoirs  to  the  various  donnas,  seated  in  their 


HAVANA.  63 

volantes,  who  come  here  to  see  their  acquaint- 
ances and  listen  to  the  band. 

They  appeared  to  me  very  coarse,  with 
swarthy  skins,  and  inclined  to  embonpoint. 
However,  by  such  a  mere  casual  glance,  it  is 
hardly  fair  to  judge  on  so  delicate  a  subject  as 
personal  beauty. 

Tlie  populace,  divested  of  their  squalor  by  the 
magic  of  the  moon's  light,  were  picturesquely 
grouped  around,  while  the  exquisite  flood  of 
Italian  music  that  swelled  on  the  soft  air, 
through  the  hum  of  the  audience,  seemed  even 
more  beautiful  than  such  melody  invariably  is. 

The  German  school  of  music  is  certainly  very 
beautiful,  and  profoundly  scientific  ;  and  that  of 
France  and  Switzerland,  inspiriting  and  gay ; 
but  the  strains  of  Italy  seem  to  breathe  the 
passion  and  poetry  of  its  sunny  clime,  and 
appeal  more  directly  to  the  heart  and  sensi- 
bilities. 

The  ice-cream  saloons  or  cafes  of  Havanna 
are  a  favorite  place  of  resort  on  the  summer 
evenings.  The  principal  one  was  very  attrac- 
tive ;  a  cool  fountain  in  the   centre,  throwing 


64  HAVANA. 

up  a  single  jet  and  falling  in  a  million  sparkling 
drops  on  a  collection  of  rare  flowers  and  sliells, 
which  lay  surrounding  its  base,  and  glittering 
with  spray,  as  if  set  with  so  many  brilliants. 
The  ceiling  was  open,  and  far  beyond  could  be 
seen  the  skies,  faintly  illumined  by  the  moon, 
and  gemmed  with  innumerable  stars.  Scattered 
over  the  tesselated  marble  floor  were  marble 
tables  and  seats,  and  marble  pillars  supported 
the  arched  and  frescoed  walls.  The  ices  are 
very  poor,  and  have  only  their  coolness  to 
recommend  them. 

All  foreigners  that  visit  Havana  consider  it 
incumbent  on  them  not  to  leave  there  without 
purchasing  a  pine-apple  handkerchief  and  a 
Spanish  fan  (generally  manufactured  in  Paris), 
and  in  consequence  the  hotel  is  hourly  besieged 
with  numerous  venders  of  these  articles.  Among 
them  I  observed  more  than  one  Yankee;  this, 
however,  is  universally  the  case  where  trade  is 
pushed  with  any  amount  of  vigor.  It  is  said 
that  the  day  after  the  city  of  Mexico  was  taken, 
and  entered  in  triumph  by  General  Scott  and 
his   victorious   army,   one  of  this   enterprising 


HAVAJ!^A.  be 

race  set  up  a  gentlemen's  furnishing  store,  next 
door  to  the  halls  of  the  Montezumas,  and  put 
out  placards  advertising  "  gents'  patent  arm- 
slings,"  and  "  the  only  genuine  gunshot-wound 
pain  exterminator,"  warranted  to  cure  at  short- 
est notice !  There  was  at  the  time  naturally  a 
great  demand  for  these  articles,  and  if  that  son 
of  'New  England  did  not  "  realize'^  something  it 
was  owing  to  no  lack  of  effort  on  his  part. 

We  visited  a  cigar  manufactory,  and  saw 
"the  weed"  in  every  variety  of  form,  and  in 
every  stage,  from  the  original  article,  fresh  from 
the  fields,  to  the  crisp  little  cigaritos,  lying 
together  in  tempting  bunches,  and  tied  with 
yellow  and  crimson  ribbons,  in  boxes  labelled 
"  Santa  Kosa,"  "  Opera,"  &c.  &c.  They  were 
soon  to  be  outward  bound  from  their  native 
land — destined  to  fill  the  pauses  of  life  to  many 
a  club  lounger,  to  accompany  reverie,  and  impart 
bliss  generally  to  the  happy  mortals  into  whose 
possession  fate  might  throw  them. 

The  markets  of  Havana  at  this  season  were 

naturally    attractive    places ;    one    department 

for  flowers,  fruit,  and  birds,  was  very  interest- 
5 


66  HAVANA. 

ing  and  refreshing,  attended  entirely  by  ne* 
gresses. 

The  object  that  most  attracted  my  attention, 
and  left  the  deepest  impression  on  my  mind, 
while  in  Havana,  was  the  tomb  of  Christopher 
Columbus,  the  discoverer  of  this  island.  I^early 
four  centuries  have  passed  since  then.  It  was 
within  the  last  of  these  that  his  remains  were 
removed  from  Spain  to  one  of  the  minor  West 
India  islands,  but  found  a  final  grave  in  Ha- 
vana. 

This  fair  young  world  that  revealed  itself  first 
to  his  enraptured  vision,  seems  a  more  fitting 
resting-place  for  its  discoverer  than  ungrateful 
Spain  or  the  land  that  gave  him  birth. 

He  had  always  been  one  of  my  favorite 
heroes,  and  I  had  loved  to  dwell  on  his  almost 
inspired  career — the  high-wrought  enthusiasm 
that  led  him  to  imagine  it  his  mission  to  dis- 
cover a  New  "World — ^that  glowing  ima^na- 
tion  that  was  but  the  pioneer  to  great  deeds. 
Impelled  by  fate  to  the  performance  of  this  work, 
to  execute  it  in  spite  of  the  conflicting  influ- 
ences, at  first  of  discouragement,  and  then  of  the 


HAVANA.  67 

mutiny  of  his  shrinking  and  treacherous  com- 
panions; totally  unsympathized  with  by  these 
terror-stricken  men  in  the  vast  unknown  deserts 
of  ocean ;  yet,  in  spite  of  their  threats,  urging 
on  his  frail  bark,  and  finally  landing  in  safety 
on  the  ITew  World's  shore — one  of  the  sub- 
limest  triumphs  ever  afibrded  to  man,  borne 
with  unparalleled  modesty ! 

There  is  no  combination  of  character  so  ad- 
mirable, to  my  mind,  as  that  which  unites  prac- 
tical common-sense,  strong  energy,  and  firmness 
of  purpose  with  a  glowing  and  enthusiastic 
imagination. 

A  mind  that  can  disregard  the  misrepre- 
sentations and  discouragements  of  an  unjust  un- 
appreciative  public,  manfully  fight  its  way 
through  adverse  circumstances,  smiling  at  the 
follies  of  a  world  that  misunderstands  it;  con- 
fident in  a  conscious  truth  and  honesty  of  pur- 
pose, pursuing  a  steadfast  undeviating  course, 
uninfluenced  but  by  its  preconceived  ideas  of 
right — 

"  That  pure  high  constancy  which  flies  right  on, 
As  swerveless  as  a  bullet,  to  its  mark ;" — 


68  HAVANA. 

coming  out  eventually  at  the  end  of  its  career, 
like  a  glorious  sunset  at  the  close  of  a  clouded 
day,  supremely  beautiful,  eliciting  unasked  and 
universal  admiration. 

The  tomb  of  Columbus  is  situated  on  the 
Plaza  des  Armas,  surrounded  by  trees.  The 
monument  is  plain  and  unpretending,  bearing  a 
basso-relievo  likeness  of  the  great  discoverer, 
with  an  inscription  in  Spanish — 

"  To  Castile  and  Leon  Columbus  gave  a  new  world." 

Brief  yet  ample  sentence  ! 

"  The  world  was  cold, 
And  he  went  down  like  a  lone  ship  at  sea. 
And  now  the  fame  that  scomed  him  while  he  lived 
Waits  on  him  like  a  menial" 


CHAPTEE  Vn. 


NEW   ORLEANS. 


We  left  Havana  with  many  regrets.  In  the 
few  days  passed  there,  enough  of  its  beauties 
and  pleasures  had  been  tasted  not  to  satiate.  I 
left  it  with  all  its  dreamy  and  indolent  beauty 
deeply  impressed  upon  my  mind — 

"Flowers  and  rills  live  sunnily 
In  gardens  of  ray  memory," 

but  none  in  more  vivid  coloring  than  those  of 
Cuba.  As  its  palm-trees,  that  had  brought  with 
them  so  new  and  delightful  a  sensation,  passed 
from  my  sight,  I  felt  that  with  them  a  dream 
had  vanished  ;  a  bright  scene  had  passed  by  in 
the  panorama  of  existence. 

Two  more  days  at  sea,  and  we  arrived  where 
the  dai'k  and  murky  waters  of  the  Mississippi 
empty  themselves  into  the  blue   waves  of  the 


70  NEW    ORLEANS. 

Mexican  Gulf.  At  this  point  the  dividing  line 
of  the  waters  was  distinctly  visible. 

The  scenery  as  the  boat  entered  the  principal 
channel  of  the  Mississippi  is  peculiarly  dreary 
and  desolate.  Tlie  sea-board  on  either  side  is 
covered  with  miles  of  low  swampy  green  salt 
plains,  with  lagoons,  or  natural  canals,  cut  in 
every  direction.  The  river  pOurs  itself  into  the 
sea,  through  three  passes.  I  suppose  the  reason 
why  it  is  called  the  "  Father  of  Waters"  is,  be- 
cause it  has  so  many  little  mouths  to  feed  1 

We  paused  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  for  a 
few  moments  to  take  in  the  pilot,  whose  hut, 
situated  on  one  of  these  dreary  plains,  seemed  a 
concentration  of  all  that  was  desolate.  ^Nothing 
can  be  more  dreary,  solitary,  or  devoid  of  all 
life,  than  these  wastes  of  marshy,  low,  flat  lands 
— ^no  vegetation  but  salt  meadow  grass  in  sight. 
A  strange  place  to  choose  out  of  the  whole 
world  for  a  home,  and  yet  there  were  children 
clustering  around  the  door-steps.  To  its  master 
it  probably  did  not  bear  the  dreary  aspect  it 
did  to  the  passing  traveller.  So  differently  in 
life  do  we  form  our  estimates. 


NEW    ORLEANS.  71 

We  spent  the  day  on  deck  watching  the 
negroes  on  either  side  of  the  river  at  work  in  the 
sugar-cane  and  cotton-fields — the  overseer  on 
horseback  riding  to  and  fro  among  them.  The 
negro  cabins  seemed  comfortable,  neat,  and 
admirably  adapted  to  the  climate  and  their 
wants.  The  tall  chimneys  of  the  sugar  dis- 
tilleries rose  up  against  the  sky,  with  clouds  of 
smoke  issuing  from  them.  Then  the  pleasure- 
grounds,  gardens,  and  house  of  the  planter,  the 
piazzas  supported  by  graceful  pillars,  and  orna- 
mented with  urns,  filled  and  running  over  with 
creeping  plants,  with  terraces  of  roses  and 
flowers  of  varied  hue,  and  children  on  the  lawn 
with  their  sable  nurses,  whose  saffron-colored 
bandannas  bloomed  brighter  than  any  blossom 
around. 

The  morning  air  was  soft  and  delicious,  the 
waters  danced  and  sparkled  in  tl\e  sunlight, 
while  the  shores  were  bright  with  verdure  and 
human  beings.  The  negroes  singing  at  their 
work  presented  a  picture  of  contented  industry 
that  would  quite  have  amazed  the  Duchess  of 
Sutherland,  and  other  less  illustrious  but  quite 


72  NEW   OELEANS. 

as  philantliropic  ladies,  wlio  need  not  come  aa 
far  as  they  do  to  find  food  for  their  surplus 
sympathies. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  the  Crescent  City  came 
in  sight,  and  towards  evening  we  found  our- 
selves landed  and  established  at  the  St.  Louis 
Hotel,  which,  since  the  burning  of  the  St. 
Charles,  has  been  the  famous  hotel  of  the  South- 
West.  The  planters  along  the  river  generally 
come  here  on  a  visit  every  winter,  bringing  their 
wives  and  daughters  to  enjoy  the  gaieties  of  this 
great  metropolis.  Bridal  parties  are  wonder- 
fully numerous. 

The  men  at  the  St.  Louis  employ  their  time  in 
drinking  juleps  and  other  beverages  in  the  great 
rotunda  of  the  hotel,  which  apartment  is  a  gor- 
geous affair,  most  sumptuously  fitted  up,  the 
centre  terminating  in  a  lofty  dome,  which  lights 
it  from  above  through  stained  glass  windows. 
Here,  over  various  descriptions  of  drinks,  the 
principal  business  of  the  city  is  transacted,  cotton 
sold,  sugar  bought,  fortunes  made  and  lost — 
enormous  gambling  transactions,  looked  upon 
with  leniency  by  the  world,  and  called  business. 


NEW   OKLEANS.  73 

While  the  men  are  enjoying  the  delights  of 
this  luxurious  ba'r-room,  the  women  employ 
themselves  in  dressing  elaborately  several  times 
a  day,  and  sitting  in  the  gorgeous  and  extensive 
drawing-rooms,  forming  quite  a  study  for  a  spec- 
tator, from  the  exquisite  Parisian  quiet  of  some 
piquante  Creole  to  the  flashy,  exaggerated  finery 
of  a  Western  village  belle.  As  in  almost  all 
public  assemblies  in  this  newly  forming  world, 
ignorance  and  bad  taste  predominate. 

From  hotel  life  more  can  be  seen  of  'New 
Orleans  society  than  in  other  cities.  A 
stranger  can  form  no  definite  idea  from  it  alone ; 
but  judging  from  an  evening's  insight  at  a 
soiree  musicale  at  the  British  Consul's,  I  should 
imagine  it  was  very  elegant  in  its  tone. 

The  Creole  women  dress  beautifully ;  their 
mode  of  coiffure  is  a  study,  rich  glossy  masses  of 
hair  rolled  around  their  heads  in  classic  and 
artistic  style. 

The   only  drive   of  any  importance  in   the 

neighborhood  of  New  Orleans  is  the  Shell  Road, 

which  terminates  at  Lake  Ponchartrain,  where 

the  steamers  start  for  Mobile.     This  drive  offers 
4 


74  NEW   ORLEANS. 

but  few  attractions  ;  a  canal  runs  on  one  side, 
and  a  ditch  on  the  other.  It  is  a  great  resort 
for  "fast"  men  (for  which  New  Orleans  is  cele- 
brated), who  here  run  their  horses  at  large. 

The  canal  serves  the  double  purpose  of  drain- 
ing a  neighboring  marsh,  and  navigation.  In 
fact,  the  whole  surface  of  the  land  is,  in  a  great 
measure,  a  marsh.  At  the  cemetery,  when  they 
dig  down  two  feet  for  a  grave,  they  come  to 
water.  It  is  found  necessary  to  use  iron  boxes, 
and  bury  the  dead  above  ground,  in  brick  graves 
like  a  Dutch  oven. 

There  is  a  dull  unprogressive  aspect  about 
everything  connected  with  New  Orleans — there 
seems  to  be  a  stagnation  in  public  spirit.  The 
habit  of  lounging  and  drinking  in  bar-rooms  pre- 
vails to  a  fearful  extent.  All  the  principal 
public  buildings  are  the  work  of  Government. 
There  seems  to  be  but  little  private  enterprise, 
which  must  be  from  the  effect  of  the  enervating 
climate  and  the  continually  fluctuating  state  of 
the  market,  which  is  at  times  in  a  state  of  wild 
elation,  and,  by  an  overflow  of  the  river,  may  be 
reduced,  in  twenty-four  hours,  to  a  state  of  utt«i 


NEW   ORLEANS.  75 

and  hopeless  depression,  closely  resembling  the 
varying  spirits  of  the  Micawber  family  as 
described  by  Mr.  Dickens. 

There  is  little  reason  to  wonder  that  men, 
brought  up  under  these  peculiar  influences,  should 
become  enervated,  and  more  prone  to  lounge  at 
their  ease,  than  devoting  a  steadfast  energy  to 
patriotic  improvements  and  the  conquest  of 
adverse  circumstances. 


CHAPTEE  YHI. 


FIRST  GLIMPSE  OF  TEXAS. 


After  a  delay  of  nearly  two  weeks  m  our  de- 
parture for  Texas,  the  moment  at  length  arrived 
for  going  on  board  the  steamship  "  Globe," 
bound  for  Brazos  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Eio  Grande,  by  way  of  Indianola  and  Gal- 
veston. 

I  di'eaded  starting,  and,- as  the  last  moment 
approached,  clung  to  the  bare  comforts  of  a 
hotel  in  a  strange  city,  in  preference  to  embark- 
ing on  the  treacherous  sea  that  lay  between  us 
and  our  destination. 

The  ship  was  an  old  disabled  shell  that  had 
been  already  condemned  as  unsafe,  and  in  the 
trip  following  the  one  which  landed  tis  safely 
was  stranded,  and  went  to  pieces  on  a  sand- 
bar, all  the  crew  and  passengers  perishing, 
the  captain  alone  barely  escaping  with  his  life. 


FIRST    GLIMPSE   OF   TEXAS.  77 

He  clung  to  a  spar  until  he  lost  his  conscious- 
ness, when,  as  he  neared  the  shore,  a  propitious 
wave  dashed  him  up  high  and  dry  on  the  beach, 
where  he  was  found.  He  told  me  afterwards 
that  death  would  have  been  preferable  to  the 
well  intentioned  but  agonizing  process  that  was 
adopted  to  bring  him  to  life — namely,  that  of 
emptying  the  salt  water  from  his  mouth  by 
holding  him  suspended  by  the  feet,  and  letting 
it  pour  out  gradually ! 

Tlie  commander.  Captain  Thompson,  was  a 
splendid  specimen  of  the  rough  and  fearless 
sailor,  a  genuine  hero  of  the  sea,  bold,  skilful, 
a  thorough  seaman  in  appearance  as  well  as  in 
mind  and  soul,  with  "  a  soft  heart  under  a  rough 
jacket."  His  nights  at  sea  were  sleepless  with 
watchfulness,  and  a  bare  bench  on  the  hurri- 
cane deck  his  only  couch. 

The  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  its 
myriads  of  rocks,  shoals,  and  sand-bars,  were  as 
familiar  to  him  as  the  shifting  nature  of  the 
latter  could  make  them. 

In  the  past  year  he  has  found  an  untimely 
grave  under  these  treacherous  waters.    During  a 


78  FIRST   GLIMPSE    OF   TEXAS. 

dreadful  storm  his  ship  went  down,  not  a  soul 
living  to  tell  where  or  how. 

Our  sail  down  the  Mississippi  from  New 
Orleans  was  spent  on  deck,  and  was  rather  plea- 
sant, but  towards  night,  when  we  got  into  the 
Gulf,  the  ship  began  to  toss  among  the  short 
sharp  waves,  and  I  was  shown  to  the  "ladies' 
cabin,"  where  a  shelf  a  foot  wide  was  pointed 
out  as  my  led.  Affairs  began  to  assume  an  as- 
pect anything  but  pleasant.  I  was  too  sick  to 
sit  up,  yet  could  not  reconcile  myself  to  the  idea 
of  the  shelf,  but  increasing  sickness  left  no  alter- 
native. I  closed  my  eyes  to  shut  out  the  scene 
of  dreadful  squalor  and  confusion  around,  which 
sickened  the  very  soul.  Families  of  emigrants 
lay  about  on  piles  of  trunks  and  boxes,  all 
blessed  with  numerous  young  children,  who 
cried,  screamed,  and  were  sea-sick  incessantly. 
I  never  can  forget  that  wretched  night.  I  seemed 
to  lie  in  a  trance,  wondering  if  I  was  myself  or 
some  one  else,  so  unlike  was  the  scene  to  any- 
thing my  imagination  had  previously  pictured. 
It  seemed  a  little  glimpse  of  Pandemonium ! 
Tlie  next  morning  I  was  removed,  half  dead,  to 


FIRST   GLIMPSE   OF  TEXAS.  79 

the  captain's  room  on  deck,  in  a  state  of  wretch- 
edness more  mental  than  physical,  the  steward- 
ess with  really  kind  feelings  remarking,  as  she 
assisted  me,  that  I  "  was  like  a  young  bear  with 
all  my  troubles  yet  to  come !" 

It  is  a  great  era  in  our  lives  when  we  first 
begin  to  realize  that  "  life  is  earnest,  life  is 
real !"  The  feelings  of  relief  were  overwhelm- 
ing on  obtaining  possession  of  the  unpretending 
little  apartment  which  was  kindly  proffered  for 
the  rest  of  the  voyage,  far  away  from  all  those 
dreadful  fellow-passengers. 

After  a  sail  of  three  days,  we  stopped  at 
Galveston,  Texas,  one  of  the  principal  ports  of 
the  State;  here  we  put  off  a  large  portion  of 
our  passengers,  who  were  emigrating  into  the 
interior.  The  main  object  of  emigration  to  this 
State  is  of  course  for  agricultural  purposes. 
There  are  a  very  superior  class  of  emigrants 
pouring  into  this  portion  of  Texas,  from  the 
older  States,  tempted  hither  by  the  rich,  luxu- 
rious, easily-cultivated  soil  of  this  well-named 
garden  of  the  South-West. 

Too  much  cannot  be  said  of  the  temptations 


80  FIRST   GLIMPSE   OF   TEXAS. 

of  settling  here ;  it  is  only  in  the  south-west- 
ern portion,  on  the  borders  of  the  Kio  Bravo 
del  l^orte,  or  the  Rio  Grande,  that  the 
country  seems  stricken  by  a  blight,  and  the 
vegetation  becomes  meagre  and  scanty  beyond 
belief. 

We  stopped  for  twenty-four  hours  at  Galves- 
ton, and  a  cessation  from  sea-sickness,  combined 
with  a  comparatively  cool,  pleasant  day,  made 
us  hail  with  pleasure  the  idea  of  spending  it  on 
shore. 

The  country  presented  a  flat  sameness  of 
aspect,  and  the  town  a  growing  appearance,  in 
spite  of  the  signs  of  newness  that  pervaded  it ; 
frame  houses  and  cottages,  surrounded  by  gar- 
dens, evidently  just  laid  out ;  streets  regularly 
marked  off  into  blocks ;  some  good  stores,  and 
quite  an  extensive  hotel,  with  churches  of  seve- 
ral denominations,  form  the  foundation  of  a  city 
that  promises  a  fine  and  rapid  development. 
We  arrived  from  the  ship  at  the  hotel  just  in 
time  for  dinner,  and  were  quite  surprised  at  the 
unwonted  display  of  table-napkins  and  turtle 
soup — two  unlooked-for  luxuries!     Experience 


FIRST   GLIMPSE    OF   TEXAS.  81 

soon  proved  that  the  former  were  an  especial 
compliment  to  the  fair  sex,  who  all  over  Texas 
are  regarded  with  great  honor  and  considera- 
tion. A  gentleman,  uninitiated  in  the  customs 
of  the  country,  asked  for  a  napkin,  and  was 
informed  by  a  likely  yellow  boy,  "  Only  pro- 
vided for  ladies,  sir." 

I  noticed  several  of  these  honored  ladies  at 
table,  arrayed  in  the  tasteful  costume  of  black 
barege  over  white,  and  enormous  colored  breast- 
pins ;  their  toilets  reminded  me  very  strongly  of 
the  baboon's  sister  in  nursery  tales,  described  as 
wearing  "  a  dark  black  frock,  and  green  glass 
breastpin."  ]N'one  of  them,  however,  excited 
my  spontaneous  admiration. 

After  dinner  was  over  I  went  to  my  room  for 

a  siesta,  and  while  there,  amused  myself  reading 

some  of  the  printed  rules  by  which  the  house 

was  regulated.     To  assist  those  whose  business 

it  is  to  render  comfortable  the  travelling  public, 

I  will  copy  one  or  two  of  them — viz.  "  Gents 

requested  not  to  spit  on  the  walls !"   also  to 

"  Keep  their  boots  off  the  bed  clothes !"  I  hope 

I  shall  not  shock  any  one's  refinement  beyond 
4* 


82  riKST   GLIMPSE    OF   TEXAS. 

recovery  by  repeating  these  regulations,  but  as 
tliey  were  there  in  print,  it  must  be  that  "  beings 
do  exist,"  to  whom  such  warnings  are  deemed 
necessary ! 

I  amused  myself  after  dinner  by  conversing 
with  a  crowd  of  young,  round-eyed,  woolly- 
headed  darkies,  whose  teeth  shone  like  rows  of 
ripe  Indian  corn  on  the  cob,  and  who,  in  spite 
of  being  as  wild  and  timid  as  prairie  hens,  were 
induced  by  a  small  bribe  to  pour  out  in  chorus 
some  of  the  sweetest  music  I  ever  listened  to. 
Their  clear,  fresh,  untutored  voices,  blended  in 
perfect  harmony  as  they  recounted,  in  spirited 
verse,  an  exciting  raccoon  hunt  in  better  time 
than  the  best  drilled  choruses  I  had  ever  heard. 
An  exquisite  ear  for  music  seems  to  be  the 
peculiar  gift  of  the  negro.  They  were  the  pro- 
perty of  an  old  Yirginia  planter,  who  had  sold 
his  plantation  in  his  native  state,  and  with  his 
sons  and  sons'  sons,  and  their  united  families, 
slaves,  and  household  property,  were  emigrating 
to  Eastern  Texas,  to  settle  on  the  Brazos  river, 
where  he  had  bought  land,  and  was  going  to 
found  a  new  home  for  himself  and  his  descend- 


FIRST   GLIMPSE   OF   TEXAS.  83 

ants.  The  whole  family  came  with  us  from 
ITew  Orleans  in  the  "  Globe."  One  day  I  sat 
near  the  old  father  on  deck,  and  struck  by  his 
venerable  patriarchal  appearance,  and  quaint- 
ness  of  manners,  for  my  private  edification 
entered  into  conversation  with  nim.  He  gave 
me  a  great  deal  of  valuable  information  in 
regard  to  the  land  to  which  he  was  bound,  and 
finally  asked  "  Misses,  whar  was  you  raised  ?" 
I  told  him  in  I^ew  York.  "  It's  an  awful 
sinful  place,"  he  groaned  out,  "  and  was  your 
man  raised  thar  too  ?" — leaving  me  very  much 
in  doubt  whether  he  thought  there  could  be 
any  future  hope  of  salvation  for  a  sinful  mortal 
*'  raised"  in  this  modern  Sodom  I 


CHAPTEE  IX. 


GALVESTON,   TEXAS. 


Towards  sunset  of  the  afternoon  that  we  passed 
in  Galveston,  a  light  wagon  and  a  pair  of  mus- 
tang ponies  were  provided  for  us,  as  this  flou- 
rishing settlement  even  boasts  of  a  livery  stable, 
80  far  has  civilization  advanced. 

They  gave  us  the  best  "  turn  out "  they  had. 
Officers  of  the  army,  being  the  representatives 
of  government,  receive  the  most  uniform  cour- 
tesy and  respect  all  over  the  South  and  West.  - 

We  first  drove  through  the  town.  About  the 
whole  place  there  seems  to  hang  a  shade  of 
melancholy,  which  may  be  imaginary,  and  in 
reality  unconnected  with  it,  but  it  is  with  in- 
voluntary thankfulness  that  I  say  "  my  lot  has 
been  cast  in  more  pleasant  places."  There  is 
but  little  animation  in  the  streets,  and  we  can 
almost  imagine   ourselves   in  a  settlement   of 


GALVESTON,   TEXAS.  85 

exiles,  so  few  signs  of  life  are  to  be  seen.  How- 
ever, we  often  judge  of  a  place  by  tbe  tone  of 
our  minds  wbile  there,  and  if  these  feelings  can- 
not be  laid  aside,  it  is  hardly  a  fair  test. 

We  leave  the  town  behind,  and  crossing  about 
a  mile  of  chapparal  or  prairie  land,  reach  the 
beach ;  a  beach  that  throws  that  of  Newport,  and 
others  that  we  have  seen,  far,  far  into  the  shade. 
It  is  twice  their  width,  and  can  be  driven  on  for 
a  day, 'without  meeting  with  any  impediment. 
The  only  marks  of  life  we  see  are  an  occa- 
sional fisherman's  temporary  hut  or  shed,  on 
that  part  in  near  vicinity  to  the  town;  and 
further  on,  swarms  of  wild  ducks,  cranes,  and 
other  kinds  of  wild  fowl,  as  well  as  clusters  of 
mammoth  turtles,  in  which  way  we  easily  ac- 
counted for  the  soup  at  dinner.  They  lay  bask- 
ing in  the  hot  sand,  apparently  enjoying  life  ex- 
cessively in  their  own  way. 

How  meagre,  how  insignificant,  do  all  the  sea- 
side scenes  painted  on  memory  seem,  in  com- 
parison to  this  vast  and  apparently  interminable 
extent  of  wave-beaten  sand  with  its  glorious 
breakers,  and  their  sad  eternal  moanings.     The 


86  GALVESTON,   TEXAb. 

mustang  ponies  seem  inspired  to  do  their  best, 
and  go  like  the  wind,  on,  on,  miles  and  miles,  and 
yet  before  iis  apparently  the  same  vast  extent 
of  beach,  the  same  breakers,  the  same  flock  of 
storks,  wetting  their  long  beaks  at  the  water's 
brink,  startled  by  our  unwonted  intrusion  on 
the  solitudes,  so  long  alone  devoted  to  them, 
their  predecessors,  and  the  murmurs  of  the  "  sad 
sea  wave  " — on,  on,  nothing  but  grandeur,  sub- 
limity, and  God — not  a  sound  of  humanity. 

Sermons  and  essays  are  not  half  as  beneficial 
in  their  efiects  as  sermons  and  lessons  born  of  a 
strange  wild  scene  like  this.  The  sky,  the  sand, 
the  "  wild  sea  foam,"  the  salt  chapparal  stretch- 
ing in  the  opposite  direction  over  the  flat  lands, 
are  all  that  the  eye  finds  to  rest  upon,  except  the 
delicate  shells  and  sea-weeds  that  lay  strewn  in 
profusion  on  the  beach,  toys  that  the  wearied 
mermaids  have  cast  aside  after  having  wreathed 
them  for  pastime  in  their  dripping  locks. 

At  last  the  sun  goes  down  beyond  the  sea, 
and  then  in  its  full  beauty  rises  the  moon. 
Round,  full,  and  beautiful,  it  rises  with  a  peculiar 
beauty  on  the  scene  we  have  just  described. 


GALVESTON,   TEXAS.  87 

casting  no  shadows,  for  there  are  no  rocks  ot 
uneven  ground  to  foster  them.  It  lights  the 
sand,  and  tinges  the  waves  with  silver,  as  our 
horses  turn  their  heads  homewards.  We  were 
very  loath  to  go,  and  confess  to  having  "  on  this 
occasion  only"  felt  very  sentimental  under  the 
influence  of  so  much  beauty,  but  ^  dolce  far 
niente  is  most  potently  realized  in  moonlight  on 
a  southern  sea,  and  makes  a  little  weakness  of 
this  kind  tlie  more  excusable !  We  will  even 
confess  to  having  been  guilty,  in  the  recesses  of 
our  own  heart,  of  quoting  some  poetry  in  re- 
ference to 

"  Those  melancholy  tears, 
Which  come  when  all  most  bright  appears, 
And  hold  their  strange  and  secret  power 
Even  on  pleasure's  golden  hour." 


"The  sea,  s6arce  murmuring,  slept  in  peace, 
Though  full  of  glory  bright  as  noon, 

"Which  tlirough  the  clouds — a  silvery  fleece — 
Gushed  down  from  the  resplendent  moon. 

Melted  in  blue  the  distant  flood, 

Like  jewels  gleamed  the  sparkling  sand. 

Oh,  what  in  such  a  silent  niglit 


88  GALVKSTOX,    TEXAS. 

Will  through  the  human  bosom  throng, 
"Was  never  felt  by  day's  broad  light, 

"Was  never  told  in  earthly  song. 
A  breath,  mysterious,  seems  to  creep 

Prom  Heaven  upon  the  tranquil  air 
A  vision  o'er  the  soul  to  sweep, 

'Tis  half  a  smile  and  half  a  tear." 


It  seemed  a  place  to  linger  in  for  ever,  but  had 
this  wish  been  gratified,  we  fear  a  speedy  reac- 
tion would  have  taken  place  from  this  quite 
high-flown  state  of  enthusiasm,  and  in  time  we 
should  have  longed  for  a  human  habitation,  and 
to  see  the  wild  ducks  in  a  pate,  as  well  as  many- 
other  small  items  of  civilized  life.  That  evening 
we  left  Galveston,  with  a  glimpse  of  its  melan- 
choly beauties  impressed  on  the  pages  of  memo- 
ry, like  the  trace  of  a  sad  and  misty  dream. 
At  earliest  dawn  next  morning  we  set  sail,  and 
at  noon  landed  at  Indianola,  where  we  put 
oif  the  remainder  of  our  passengers.  But  few 
e^er  go  further  south  in  Texas,  unless  they  go  on 
especial  business,  or  by  orders  of  government. 
Those  unconnected  with  the  latter,  or  with  mer 
cantile  houses,  seldom  find   their  way   there, 


GALVESTON,    TEXAS.  89 

The  passengers  for  Indianola,  and  their  nume- 
rous articles  of  proj)erty,  were  conveyed  to  the 
shore,  some  distance,  in  small  boats,  as,  from 
the  peculiar  formation  of  the  harbor,  it  is  peri- 
lous for  ships  to  enter  in.  Two  more  days  at 
sea  brought  our  old,  leaky  vessel  in  sight  of 
the  island  of  "  Brazos  St.  Jago  "  (the  arm  of  St. 
James),  and  found  us  most  perilously  lodged  on 
a  dangerous  sand-bar  in  sight  of  land,  where 
the  vestiges  bf  wrecks  around  seemed  to  warn 
us  of  what  might  be  our  fate,  and  of  the  death 
and  destruction  that  looked  us  in  the  face.  For 
six  hours  we  lay  in  the  breakers,  with  the  calm 
blue,  sunlit  heavens,  smiling  down  upon  us, 
singular  accompaniments  for  a  wreck  at  sea, 
and  yet  we  knew  well  that  half  the  devasta- 
tions around  us  had  taken  place  under  the  same 
circumstances,  and  not  in  the  midnight  storm 
or  under  a  clouded  sky.  The  waves,  as  if  from 
a  whirlpool  beneath,  dashed  upon  the  ship, 
striking  us  fearfully  each  time  against  the  bar, 
producing  a  terrible  shock,  that  seemed  like' 
warning  from  heaven  of  coming  fate.  Tlie  cap- 
tain and  crew  labored  most  manfully  at  their 


90  GALVESTON     TEXAS. 

duties,  but  every  other  voice  was  hushed  with 
eager  anxiety.  The  scene  around  inspired  any- 
thing but  hope  of  reaching  land  in  safety,  and 
assistance  of  small  boats  from  the  shore  experi- 
ence had  often  proved  impossible.  The  sea 
around  the  vessel  moaned  "  like  a  monster 
pained."  We  sat  all  these  hours  on  the  deck, 
mechanically  watching  the  sea  gulls  dipping 
their  wings  in  the  water,  and  the  porpoise  as  it 
gave  a  leap  through  the  air  to  plunge  again,  in 
an  instant,  into  the  wave.  When  death  comes 
face  to  face  with  us  unexpectedly,  no  matter 
what  our  horror  of  it  may  be,  it  is  strange  how 
indifferently  we  can  look  it  in  the  face.  Dur- 
ing these  frightful  hours  we  traced  with  a  glass 
countless  wrecks  that  lay  around.  From  the 
bar  on  which  we  lay  to  the  shore  the  water  was 
shallow,  and  only  navigable  for  small  boats. 
The  harbor  is  filled  with  bars,  which  are  con- 
tinually shifting  their  position.  This  peculiarity 
is  what  renders  it  so  perilous,  and  causes  so 
many  lives  to  be  sacrificed  in  sight  of  land. 
Every  imaginable  vestige  of  wreck  lay  around, 
from  the  giant  mast  of  some  enormous  ship  to 


GALVESTON,   TEXAS.  91 

that  of  the  smallest  trading  schooner.  All  this 
gave  to  the  barren,  sandy  shores,  an  air  of 
gloom  and  desolation,  that  words  cannot  de- 
scribe. Our  few  fellow-passengers  awaited  with 
us  in  earnest  watching  to  see  what  would  come 
next.  My  Irish  Abigail  alone  broke  silence,  by 
ejaculations  to  the  Yirgin,  in  a  brogue  which 
was  a  painful  jar  to  every  one's  feelings,  and 
had  I  died  there  it  would  have  been  as  a  sin- 
cere and  disgusted  Know  Nothing ! 

Towards  afternoon,  when  the  excitement  of 
hope  had  been  subdued  by  the  almost  certainty 
of  our  worst  fears  being  realized — with  one 
bound  and  a  loud  glad  shout  of  exultation,  we 
were  pushed  across  the  bar,  and  at  last  safely 
cast  anchor  inside  the  harbor.  In  her  next 
voyage,  the  Globe  went  to  pieces  on  this  same 
sand-bar,  not  a  soul  on  board,  except  the  cap- 
tain, escaping.  It  now  forms  another  vestige  of 
a  wreck  to  add  new  dreariness  to  this  gloomy 
scene.  Tlie  small  boats  were  laimched,  and  we 
were  soon  landed  on  the  government  docks  of 
Brazos  Island,  where  are  a  number  of  large 
wooden  buildings,  containing  ammunition  and 


92  .  GALVESTON,    TEXAS. 

various  government  stores  of  provisions,  clothing, 
&c.,  to  be  forwarded  to  answer  demands  from 
the  various  military  stations  on  the  river  above. 
The  quartermaster  and  his  family  reside  here, 
and  we  stayed  at  his  house.  That  afternoon  we 
spent  with  him  in  a  row-boat  fishing  for  our 
supper ;  we  caught  a  number  of  blue-fish,  and 
of  course  cat-fish^  as  they  are  the  especial  luck 
of  all  amateur  fishermen  !  We  caught  nothing 
difierent  from  what  we  have  at  the  north. 
Towards  night  as  we  went  homewards  over  the 
moonlit  waters,  the  cool  breeze  from  the  sea 
amply  rewarded  us  for  our  unwonted  exertions. 
That  evening  we  sat  on  the  piazza  and  saw 
the  lights  glimmering  from  Point  Isabel,  which 
lay  directly  opposite  us  on  the  Texas  shore.  It 
will  be  remembered  as  the  scene  of  some  of 
General  Taylor's  most  important  operations.  It 
contains  a  few  houses  around  Fort  Polk,  a  field- 
work  thrown  up  by  General  Taylor's  troops,  at 
the  commencement  of  the  war.  Between  Point 
Isabel  and  Brownsville  is  an  overland  route 
of  about  twelve  miles.  Shell  Island  and  Palm 
Island,  both  occupied  by  a  few  inhabitants,  lay 


GALVESTON,    TEXAS.  93 

before  us  in  the  sea  ;  Brazos  Island  looks  like  a 
bleak,  barren  sand-bank  on  a  pretty  extensive 
scale.  In  the  year  1845,  before  Texas  became 
a  State  of  the  Union,  the  Mexican  government 
passed  a  law,  that  no  one  should  attempt  to 
settle  here,  as  on  several  occasions,  when  such 
attempts  had  been  made,  a  terrific  storm  had 
suddenly  sprung  up,  and,  dashing  on  the  shore, 
had  swept  away  every  vestige  of  its  inhabitants 
and  their  property,  without  leaving  a  trace  behind 
of  human  habitation.  It  is  now  many  years 
since  such  a  storm  has  taken  place,  so  that  they 
have  almost  entirely  passed  from  the  memory 
of  the  present  inhabitants  of  these  regions. 
Government  has  run  quite  a  risk  in  braving  a 
repetition  of  one  of  these  terrible  and  devas- 
tating storms.  It  may  lead  to  a  too  tardy  regret. 
The  present  limited  population  are  principally 
the  employes  of  government  at  the  store- 
houses, and  fishermen  who  supply  the  Browns- 
ville market  with  bass,  red  and  blue-fish,  and  an 
inferior  kind  of  oyster,  which  is  nevertheless 
regarded  as  a  very  great  delicacy  in  the  absence 
of  others.     I  was  very  much  amused  at  a  new 


94  GALVESTON",    TEXAS. 

species  of  hotel  that  I  saw  there ;  it  was  formed 
of  the  wrecked  hull  of  an  enormous  ship  that 
had  been  cast  ashore  in  a  storm,  and  was  firmly 
wedged  in  the  sand.  It  had  been  repaired  and 
rendered  weather-proof  by  the  mud  and  mortar 
generally  made  use  of  for  building  purposes  in 
these  primitive  regions.  A  bar-room  and  eat- 
ing-room formed  the  principal  apartments,  with 
several  sleeping-rooms  of  limited  area  adjoin- 
ing, which  were  the  accommodations  of  the 
boarders.  It  was  kept  by  an  old  woman  and 
her  pretty  little  granddaughter  about  twelve 
years  old,  who  was  receiving  an  education  to 
fit  her  for  the  responsible  situation  of  bar-maid 
to  this  "  Hotel  (vraiment)  Texan."  "We  passed 
one  afternoon  and  night  on  Brazos  Island,  and 
the  next  day  started  for  Fort  Brown,  adjoining 
the  town  of  Brownsville,  Texas. 


CHAPTER  X. 


BEAZ08   ST.    JAGO. 


At  ten  o'clock  the  next  morning  the  govern- 
ment carriage  or  ambulance  was  at  the  door,  and, 
bidding  farewell  to  our  host,  we  again  resumed 
our  journey.  The  day  was  warm,  but  a  cool 
breeze  came  from  the  sea,  and  the  sun  kindly 
shut  out  its  hottest  rays  from  us  by  a  screen  of 
clouds.  The  first  part  of  the  drive  lay  along  the 
seaboard  of  Brazos  Island ;  no  rocks,  nor  the 
smallest  traces  of  vegetation  could  be  seen  in 
the  hot  sand ;  there  was  nothing  t-o  vary  the 
monotony  of  the  scene  but  vestiges  of  wrecks 
of  all  descriptions,  remains  of  ships  and  schoon- 
ers, that  when  gaily  launched,  brightly  painted, 
and  colors  streaming,  were  looked  upon  with 
pride  by  their  commander  and  crew,  \>fho  little 
thought  they  would,  ere  long,  be  utterly  dis 
abled,  at   the   mercy   of    tempestuour    winds, 


96  BRAZOS   ST.   JAGO.  ' 

cast  on  the  bleak  shores  of  a  barren  island,  or 
stranded  on  the  treacherous  sand-bar. 

Frequently  were  we  compelled  to  turn  aside 
from  our  path  to  avoid  some  mammoth  black- 
ened mast  that  lay  imbedded  in  the  sand,  im- 
peding our  way.  The  horses  dragged  for  seve- 
ral miles,  slowly  and  wearily,  through  the  heavy 
sands,  till  we  came  to  the  creek  "  Boca  Chica" 
(little  mouth),  which  separates  Brazos  Island 
from  the  main  land.  Here  the  horses  were 
taken  from  the  ambulance,  which  was  then 
towed  across  the  creek  by  the  flat-boat,  that 
served  for  a  ferry;  it  then  returned  for  the 
horses,  and  finally  for  the  passengers,  making 
three  tedious  trips,  while  I  sat  on  a  dressing-case, 
in  the  sand,  patiently  watching  the  operation. 

The  flat-boat  could  not  come  quite  up  to  the 
dry  land,  so  there  were  about  twenty  yards  of 
shallow  water  to  be  passed  before  we  could  get 
to  it.  To  my  amazement  I  soon  found  myself 
being  borne  through  the  air  like  a  baby  in  the 
arms  of  a  great  stalwart  Texan  (he  being  knee- 
deep  in  the  water),  until  safely  lodged  in  the 
boat,  on  a  large  Mexican  poncho  that  their  gal- 


\ 


BRAZOS   ST.    JAGO.  97 

lantry  had  provided.  Tlie  creek  was  ever  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  wide,  and  was  a  good  deal 
swollen  at  this  season  by  recent  rains.  When 
we  arrived  at  the  other  side  we  were  obliged 
to  wait  there  a  while  to  rest  the  horses.  We 
went  into  a  kind  of  rancho,  or  hut,  to  sit 
down.  It  was  the  home  of  the  boatman  and  his 
wife,  who  resided  here,  and  the  only  house  for 
miles  around",  it  appeared  very  lonely,  even  to 
a  transient  guest,  being  on  the  banks  of  the 
creek,  with  nothing  but  sand  and  water  in  sight. 
The  interior  was  quite  spacious,  and  was  divided 
into  apartments  by  rough  canvass  or  sailcloth 
curtains.  All  the  surroundings,  however,  to 
an  eye  unaccustomed  to  "  roughing  it,"  bore 
an  aspect  of  misery  and  abject  suffering.  When 
on  our  way  home  we  again  stopped  here,  this 
wayside  hut,  with  a  roof  over  it,  appeared 
(comparatively  speaking)  really  a  comfortable 
abode,  we  had  seen  so  many  worse  ones. 

In  a  conversation  with  the  woman  who  lived 
here,  she  told  her  history  (which  was  but  slightly 
more  eventful  than  that  of  Canning's  Knife- 
Grinder)  I 


98  BRAZOS   ST.   JAGO. 

The  "halcyon  days"  of  her  youth  had  been 
passed  principally  on  the  canal.  Since  that  she 
had  lived  in  all  parts  of  the  Western  States,  and 
finally  had  reached  this  barren  spot,  on  the 
confines  of  civilization.  She  bore  the  traces  of 
some  former  beauty;  her  eyes  were  very  sad, 
and  so  was  her  smile.  I  asked  her  if  she  was 
not  lonely  ?  she  said  that  peace  was  enough  to 
satisfy  her,  and  she  had  that  where  she  was. 
Her  chief  occupation  was  raising  chickens  for 
the  Brownsville  market.  She  showed  me  a 
brood  of  fifty,  with  one  old  hen,  all  crowded  in 
a  bandbox,  and  kept  on  a  shelf,  to  keep  them 
from  running  in  the  creek,  she  said.  By  the  aid 
of  plenty  of  meal  and  a  scanty  supply  of  light 
and  air,  she  assured  me  she  raised  the  fattest 
chickens  in  market !  but  I  should  not  have 
cared  to  eat  any  of  these  extra  plethoric  or 
dropsical  poultry ! 

By  the  time  the  investigation  of  this  natural 
phenomenon  was  finished,  our  horses  were  rest- 
ed and  at  the  door  awaiting  us.  We  bid  our 
hostess  farewell,  and  proceeded  on  our  way. 

From  this  point  we  struck  a  north-westerly 


BRAZOS    ST.    JAGO.  99 

direction  towards  Brownsville,  crossing  a  beau- 
tiful chapparal,  which,  owing  to  an  accidental 
irrigation  from  the  overflow  of  the  river  above, 
formed  a  spot  of  verdure  but  seldom  seen  in 
this  region  of  country.  It  was  thick  with  flow- 
ering shrubs  and  wild  flowers.  Each  scraggy, 
ebony  tree  lodged  in  its  branches  myriads 
of  brilliant  tropical  birds,  whose  sweet-toned 
melodies  filled  the  soft  air  that  floated  around 
us,  with  music.  Another  hour's  drive  took  us 
to  the  borders  of  the  Rio  Grande  or  Rio  Bravo 
del  I^orte,  a  still,  monotonous  stream,  that 
flowed  sluggishly  along,  its  muddy  waters  giv- 
ing, however,  a  refreshing  sensation  to  the  tra- 
veller on  its  almost  invariably  parched  and  arid 
banks. 

The  first  impressions  of  this  river  reminded 
me  of  the  descriptions  I  had  read  and  imagined 
of  Egypt  and  the  Nile.  It  only  wanted  a  few 
swarthy,  turbaned  men,  and  a  sphynx  or  two, 
to  complete  the  illusion. 

As  we  left  the  banks  of  the  river  (which,  in 
its  winding  course,  struck  far  away  from  our 
more  direct  road  to  Brownsville),  we  came  on 


100  BRAZOS   ST.   JAGO. 

to  the  ground  which  was  the  scene  of  the  battle 
of  Palo  Alto,  situated  on  a  tract  which  nature 
seemed  designedly  to  have  thrown  up  for  the 
purposes  of  a  drill  ground.  This  formation  is 
not,  however,  as  conspicuous  in  this  region  of 
country  aS  it  might  be  in  another  place  ;  for  the 
whole  surface  of  the  land  is  laid  out  in  low, 
sandy  ridges,  the  vegetation  stinted,  and  the  soil 
scanty.  The  cactus  and  other  plants  indige- 
nous and  peculiar  to  a  sandy  soil,  grow  in  luxu- 
riant beauty.  Occasionally  relics  of  the  battle 
are  picked  up,  but  there  remain  few  traces  to 
tell  of  "  war's  alarms."  The  oriole  boldly  lights 
on  the  low  flowering  bushes,  knowing  no  fear 
in  these  rarely  interrupted  solitudes,  where  the 
sounds  of  the  wilderness  alone  break  the  still- 
ness of  the  air.  The  contrast  of  this  peaceful 
scene  with  the  previously  conceived  idea  of 
this  famous  battle-field  was  very  striking.  It 
had  been  associated  with  the  sound  of  booming 
guns,  gallant  charges,  and  groans  of  wounded 
and  dying  men. 

Many  that  I  had  known,  treading  with  mar- 
tial step  the  romantic  plain  of  West  Point,  had 


BKAZOS    ST.    JAGO.  101 

here  found  a  soldier's  grave,  among  the  unfor- 
gotten  dead.  The  high  beating  pulse  and  ear- 
nest aspirations  of  early  manhood  stilled  for  ever, 
in  an  instant,  by  the  shot  of  some  cowardly 
Mexican,  who  probably  shuddered  with  fear  as 
he  pulled  his  trigger — for  they  are  a  nation  of 
poltroons,  and  more  afraid  of  their  own  fire- 
arms than  any  one  would  readily  believe. 
How  many  have  thus 

"  Poured  their  life-blood  freely  out^ro  lono  puiblico" 

with  the  simple  satisfaction  of  dying  in  the  dis- 
charge of  duty ;  while,  too,  many  a  neglected 
mound,  on  distant  spots  like  this,  is  all  that 
remains  of  those — 

"  The  young  and  strong,  who  cherished 
Noble  longings  for  the  strife, 
By  the  road-side  fell  and  perished." 

It  seems  almost  a  disgrace  to  think  of  the  many 
forgotten  graves  of  brave  and  noble  men  that 
lie  scattered  everywhere.  The  glory  conferred 
by  them  on  their  country  seems  to  demand 
some   better    return.     The    blood-stained    hills 


102  BRAZOS   ST.   JAGO. 

and  valleys  of  our  land  are  the  ruby  jewels  in 
the  crown  of  her  greatness.  And  if  we  fail  to 
mark  those  spots  where  heroes  fall  with  tablets 
that  tell  of  their  gallant  deeds,  it  is  not  only 
wronging  them,  but  wronging  generations  yet 
unborn,  by  allowing  them  to  forget  how  pre- 
cious the  purchase-money  that  bought  their 
freedom. 

Our  horses  paused  here  to  allow  us  to  take 
luncheon,  which,  when  it  came  to  be  unpacked, 
consisted  of  a  cold  beefsteak  and  bread,  wrapped 
in  a  newspaper ;  anything  but  a  tempting  re- 
past, and,  although  famishing  with  hunger,  I 
politely  but  firmly  declined  participating  in  it. 

About  three  miles  before  we  came  to  Fort 
Brown  we  passed  a  deep  ravine,  the  scene  of 
thjB  battle  of  Resaca  de  la  Palma  (the  field  of 
palms),  which  could  not  have  taken  its  name 
from  any  of  these  trees,  as  there  was  not  even 
one  specimen  to  be  seen.  It  was  here  that  Ge- 
neral Taylor  achieved  his  second  victory  over 
the  Mexicans,  under  General  Arista,  in  the  late 
war.  The  sensations  here  were  a  repetition  of 
the    above,  so  it  is  needless  to  recapitulate. 


BRAZOS   ST.    JAGO.  103 

When  we  are  hungry  we  grow  less  enthusiastic, 
and  even  patriotism  cools  down  to  a  mere  mat- 
ter of  fact  sentiment. 

"We  saw  several  ranches  in  the  distance,  but  ]  \; 
none  near  enough  to  form  a  very  definite  idea 
of  them  or  their  belongings. 


CHAPTEK  XI. 


FOKT  BEOWN. 


Soon  we  drove  in  sight  of  Fort  Brown,  ana  up 
the  principal  street  of  Brownsville  to  the  gates 
of  the  garrison.  The  aspect  of  this  curious, 
Jialf-breed  town,  was  very  novel.  It  is  what 
thej  call  in  Texas  "  quite  a  settlement."  A 
mixed  population  of  Americans  and  Mexicans 
formed  a  contrast  at  once  striking  and  amusing. 
On  the  one  hand  the  red  brick  stores,  and 
white  frame  shops  and  buildings  of  every  de- 
scription, bore  the  marks  of  inevitable  progress, 
or  go-aheadativeness,  otherwise  called  "  mani- 
fest destiny ;"  while  the  rudely  constructed  huts, 
or  hackals,  composed  of  rustic  straw  work,  or 
mud  bricks  called  adobes,  in  which  there  is 
generally  but  one  apartment,  where  frequently 
are  found  five  generations  living  together,  ek- 
ing out  an  indolent  existence  on  a  mild  diet  of 


FORT    BROWN  105 

ground  corn,  eggs,  and  milk,  exhibited  unmis- 
takable evidence  of  a  vanishing  people,  who  in 
a  few  years  will  know  no  nationality. 

These  Mexicans  lead  a  truly  primitive  life, 
reminding  us  of  "shepherd  days"  in  young 
world's  history. 

In  one  of  the  huts,  built  on  four  posts, 
with  thatched  straw  walls,  I  witnessed  on  one 
occasion,  with  mingled  horror  and  amusement, 
quite  a  new  phase  in  harber-ism  !  It  could  not 
be  called  hair-dressing,  yet  might  be  regarded 
as  a  peculiar  species  of  shampooing. 

An  old  crone  seated  on  a  wooden  bench,  was 
cleansing  the  locks  of  a  small  child,  while  a 
young  girl  performed  the  same  kindly  offices  for 
the  old  woman — the  whole  party  talking  and 
laughing  merrily. 

Further  description,  or  even  a  shade  more 
minuteness  in  detail,  would  be  irnpossible.  Suf. 
ficient  to  say,  the  performance  had  more  vitality 
connected  with  it  than  is  usually  displayed  by 
Mexicans. 

Yermin  are  the  scourge  of  this  country,  and 

cleanliness  certainly  not  one  of  its  virtues.    This 

5* 


106  FORT  BROWN. 

portion  of  the  world  may  be  set  do^\*ll  as  the 
birthplace  of  the  flea ;  those  found  in  other 
parts  are  merely  occasional  wanderers  from  this, 
their  native  land !  Here  they  roam  at  large, 
the  torment,  par  excellence,  of  the  human  race, 
in  consequence  of  which  carpets  are  eschewed, 
as  they  are  apt  to  furnish  a  resort  for  scores  of 
fleas,  as  well  as  other  vermin  of  the  country. 

Cane  furniture,  matting,  and  the  indispensable 
mosquito  bar,  are  the  only  articles  in  general 
use  ;  anything  more  elegant  seldom  reaches 
here,  and  is  not  required. 

We  found  at  Brownsville  quite  a  respectable, 
well  educated  class  of  Americans,  who  gave  an 
entertainment  while  we  were  there,  in  honor  of 
certain  strangers  in  town.  The  Mayor  called  to 
invite  the  officers  of  the  garrison  of  Fort  Brow^n, 
and  their  families,  to  the  soiree  to  be  given  at 
"  the  Gem,"  the  principal  cafe  of  the  place.  Of 
course  we  accepted  the  invitation,  went  at  nine 
o'clock,  and  found  the  afiair  had  commenced 
already.  A  fine  band  of  stringed  instruments,  and 
a  certain  air  of  deference  and  respect  in  the  man- 
ners of  the  men,  were  something  I  had  not  ex- 


FORT   BROWN.  107 

pected  to  find.  The  waltzing  was  very  grace- 
ful. Several  Spanisli  ladies  from  the  old  Mexi- 
*can  city  of  Matamoras  were  present,  who  seemed 
to  swim  in  the  graceful,  languid  motion  of  the 
deux  temps,  as  if  they  had  never  heard  of  the 
hopping  of  the  polka  and  redowa,  which  rather 
frantic  style  of  dancing  certainly  seems  better 
adapted  to  the  Jardin  Mabille,  or  some  grisettes' 
ball,  than  to  the  dame  comme  il  faut. 

Wall-flbwers  are  an  unknown  shrub  in  this 
part  of  the  country ;  the  men  have  too  much 
gallantry  to  allow  them  to  flourish,  even  if  acci- 
dentally transplanted  here  from  colder  climes. 

I  had  once  doubted  the  existence  of  those 
mythical  beings  called  "nature's  noblemen," 
but  my  stay  in  Texas  relieved  my  mind  from 
all  uncertainty  on  the  subject,  for  I  found  no 
lack  of  polish  and  courtesy,  although  the  coun- 
try is  so  newly  settled. 

The  site  now  occupied  by  the  government 
grounds  of  Fort  Brown  belonged  formerly  to  the 
estate  of  a  Spanish  nobleman,  and  had  been  in  his 
family  for  years.  Consequently  some  fine  trees 
are  growing  in  the  neighborhood,  as  it  was  once  an 


108  FORT  BROWN. 

exquisite  garden,  filled  with  plants  and  irrigated 
from  the  Kio  Grande,  by  means  of  stone  aque- 
ducts, now  falling  into  decay.  Traces  of  a  beau- 
tiful artificial  lake,  with  an  island  in  its  centre, 
still  remain,  and  also  a  ruined  summer-house, 
wath  luxuriant  vines  creeping  wherever  they  can 
find  a  support  to  cling  to,  as  the  pillars  that 
they  once  clambered  over  have  probably  long 
ere  this  lighted  a  fire,  to  cook  some  ranchero's 
meal,  or  floated  down  the  sullen  waters  of  the 
Eio  Grande.  In  1848  Brownsville  contained 
but  two  houses,  or  rather  shanties ;  two  years 
•  after,  it  had  four  thousand  inhabitants,  was  laid 


out  into  streets,  with  a  number  of  brick  build- 

;  inga,  and  a  fine  market-house,  with  a  large  pub- 

C  lie  hall  above  it.     It  is  duly  incorporated,  and 

now  has  a  mayor  and  other  municipal  officers, 

and  a  weekly  newspaper. 

Its  population  has  not  very  materially  increas- 
ed since  1850,  owing  to  the  unsettled  state  of  the 
frontier,  from  the  Indians  and  filibuster  warfare. 
\    A  considerable  trade  is  carried  on  with  the  inte- 
\  nor   of   Mexico,   and  in   time   of   disturbance 
^  smuggling  is  practised  to  a  great  extent. 


FOET   BROWN.  109 

Tlie  rush  of  fortune-hunters  to  California 
gave  so  wide  a  vent  to  the  enterprising,  that  it 
prevented  the  increase  of  the  population  of 
Brownsville  that  would  otherwise  have  taken 
place. 

Thirty  miles  east  of  the  town  is  a  lake,  from 
which  large  quantities  of  salt  are  annually  ob- 
tained. 

In  1852  when  we  were  there,  there  was  no 
church,  and  but  one  preacher.  This  individual 
was  a  wandering  Presbyterian,  who  after  having 
collected  an  ample  subscription  from  the  people, 
for  the  purpose  of  building  a  church,  invested 
it  in  a  parsonage,  built  on  a  lot  of  his  own  ground ! 
and  after  safely  lodging  in  it  his  wife  and  a 
dozen  or  more  of  his  pious  offspring,  began  mak^ 
ing  preparations  for  another  collection,  to  build 
the  church.  This  time,  however,  the  people  of 
Brownsville,  seeing  that  he  acted  so  entirely  on 
the  principle  of  "  charity  beginning  at  home," 
w^ere  more  wary,  and  the  church  remains  un- 
built to  this  day.  I  have  since  heard  that  the 
Episcopal  church  has  sent  a  minister  there. 

We  were  detained  several  weeks  in  Browns- 


110  FORT  BROWN. 

ville  on  account  of  the  non-arrival  of  "  tlie  Cor- 
vette "  (the  government  steamer),  and  dr  ing 
that  time  received  every  kindness  and  hospitality. 
The  further  you  remove  from  civilization,  the 
more  warm-hearted  the  persons  you  meet  seem, 
and  hospitality,  like  contentment,  gives  charms, 
even  to  "a  dinner  of  herbs."  This  is  easily 
accounted  for.  In  a  large  community,  there  are 
so  many  calls  on  our  sympathy  and  good  will, 
that,  naturally,  they  cannot  be  responded  to  as 
heartily  as  in  a  place  out  of  the  world,  where 
such  demands  are  more  rare. 

We  made  a  good  many  excursions  about  the 
country.  One  day  we  crossed  the  river,  and 
spent  a  day  at  Matamoras.  This  place  is  asso- 
ciated with  the  siege  of  Fort  Brown,  during  the 
Mexican  war.  Its  old  stone  dwellings,  and  ca- 
thedral, whose  cracked  chimes  float  daily  on  the 
evening  and  morning  air,  with  its  heavy  masonry 
and  antiquated  air,  seem  to  bear  us  back  to  past 
centuries  when  the  Spaniards  brought  from  gor- 
geous Spain  some  of  the  attributes  of  regal  gran- 
deur, and  planted  them  in  the  wilderness  of  a  for- 
eiorn  land.    Members  of  some  of  the  noblest  fami- 

CI 


FORT   BROWN.  Ill 

lies  of  Spain  founded  houses  here,  whose  des- 
cendants greatly  pride  themselves  on  their  long 
line  of  ancestors,  and  the  antiquity  of  their 
family  reminiscences.*  The  present  race  of 
Spanish- Americans  have  lost  almost  all  the 
fire  of  their  native  land,  and  form  a  nation 
which  by  itself  will  probably  never  attain  a 
very  proud  eminence  in  the  world's  history. 
(Annexation  to  our  union  is  all  that  can  ele- 
vate them,  although  the  advantage  would  be 
greatly  on  their  side,  as  it  would  not  add  either 
to  the  glory  or  material  advantage  of  Uncle  Sam. 
Petty  revolutions  furnish  them  with  an  appa- 
rently unwearying  excitement,  and  the  conse- 
quence is,  an  utter  Lack  of  all  progress,  and  a 
general  aspect  of  desolation  and  decayed  splen- 
dor. The  men  are  generally  a  diminutive  race, 
and  to  a  refined  mind  there  is  something  almost 
repulsive  in  their  dark,  swarthy,  unintellectual 
beauty.  The  upper  class  of  women,  though  not 
strictly  speaking  beautiful,  have  a  certain  inde- 
scribable charm;  a  dreamy,  soft,  subdued,  al- 
most languid  manner,  covering  an  enthusiasm 
almost  startling  when  roused.     This  anomalous 


112  FORT   BROWN. 

combination  produces  an  effect  at  once  pleasing 
and  the  contrary.  We  feel  how  necessary  a 
high  cultivation  of  the  mind  is  to  a  union  so 
fascinating  and  so  defective.  For  beyond  ac- 
companying herself  on  the  mandolin,  as  she  sings 
the  national  ditties  of  Spain,  and  embroidering 
the  exquisite  needle-work  of  Mexico,  she  is  ut- 
terly devoid  of  either  moral  or  literary  culture. 
"While  at  Matamoras,  we  saw  the  funeral  pro- 
cession of  the  resident  Spanish  Consul,  to  which 
the  American  officers  had  received  a  formal  and 
courteous  invitation ;  many  of  them  were  present. 
He  was  of  the  Roman  faith,  and  his  funeral 
services  were  attended  with  all  the  pomp  and 
forms  of  that  church.  The  carriage  that  we 
were  in  drew  up  to  the  side  of  the  road,  as  the 
procession  passed  in  solemn  silence,  the  only 
sounds  the  low  chanting  of  the  priests  and  the 
tramp  of  the  feet  of  the  funeral  train.  The 
priests  came  first,  in  full  regalia,  bearing  the 
host,  followed  by  boys  in  white  and  crimson 
attire,  holding  lighted  torches,  and  burning 
incense ;  then  came  the  coffin,  borne  on  the 
shoulders  of  six  men,  and  covered  with  a  heavy 


FORT   BROWN.  113 

black  velvet  pall,  with  deep  gold  fringe.  On 
the  top  lay  the  chapeau,  sword,  and  sash  of  its 
occupant,  with  other  insignia  of  his  office  (which 
latter  among  these  people  are  neither  few  nor 
rare).  The  mourners  followed  in  close  vicinity 
to  the  coffin,  and  then  the  citizens,  each  bearing 
a  long  waxen  taper,  to  be  lighted  at  the  grave 
during  the  service.  The  fat  shaven  padres 
seemed  to  .be  enjoying  vastly  the  inipression 
they  were  producing  on  their  ignorant  but  ad- 
miring audience,  and  (begging  the  pardon  of  the 
holy  Roman  Catholic  Church)  a  more  dissolute, 
carnal,  gambling,  jolly  set  of  wine-bibbers  do 
not  exist  in  any  portion  of  the  world  than  the 
Mexican  priests  of  the  present  day.  In  every 
village  of  importance  they  are  found,  ruling  the 
ignorant  peasantry  with  the  strong  sway  of 
superstition  and  dread.  These  men  are  at 
times  well  educated,  and  very  agreeable, 
amusing  companions,  in  spite  of  their  wicked- 
ness. They  differ  widely  from  the  original  race 
of  priests,  who  were  among  the  foremost  in 
bringing  religion  and  civilization  into  the  coun- 
try. 


114  FORT   BROWN. 

In  fact,  the  earliest  records  we  have  of  the 
history  of  Mexico  and  Texas  are  derived  from 
those  remarkable  men,  half  priest,  half  soldier, 
who  after  aiding  in  the  subjugation  of  the 
Aztecs,  spread  themselves  almost  single-handed 
over  a  vast  extent  of  country,  uninhabited  save 
by  numerous  tribes  of  savages,  whose  very  ex- 
istence was  unknown  to  each  other.  Led  on  by 
visions  as  brilliant  as  those  of  Cortez,  fired 
equally  by  religious  zeal  and  ambition,  these 
modern  crusaders  braving  danger  with  more 
than  military  ardor,  and  meeting  death  with  the 
martyr's  enthusiasm,  with  their  numbers  dimi- 
nished and  still  decreasing,  pressed  on  until  they 
penetrated  into  the  heart  of  the  continent,  where 
for  centuries  the  wild  idolator  had  ofibred  sacri- 
fice on  the  altar  of  an  unknown  God.  Descend- 
ing the  water  courses  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
they  sought  with  the  cross  in  one  hand,  and  the 
sword  in  the  other,  to  colonize  the  nomadic 
tribes  that  roamed  at  large  over  the  wide  prai- 
ries of  Texas.  The  history  of  their  proceedings 
is  full  of  interest,  although  the  records  are  few 
and  limited  in  detail.     Time   and  again  their 


FORT    BROWN.  115 

efforts  were  frustrated,  and  the  daring  adven- 
turers paid  to  their  enterprise  the  forfeit  of  their 
lives. 

Occasionally  a  straggling  survivor  found  his 
way  back  to  Mexico,  after  passing  through  every 
description  of  danger,  travelling  solitary  and  on 
foot  over  hundreds  of  miles  of  prairie.  Their 
mournful  tidings,  however,  served  but  to  in- 
crease the  ardor  for  conquest.  Success  seemed 
at  length  to  crown  these  continued  efforts,  and  a 
number  of  flourishing  missions  were  eventually 
established  in  the  valley  of  the  upper  Rio 
Grande,  and  formed  the  nucleus  of  what  are 
now  considerable  towns.  These  missions  were 
generally  under  the  supervision  of  the  priests, 
one  of  whom  attended  to  the  religious  ceremo- 
nies, while  the  other  collected  the  Indians,  and 
instructed  them  in  agriculture,  the  use  of  imple- 
ments, &c. 

In  these  tasks  they  were  assisted  by  parties 
of  already  civilized  Indians,  who  had  accompa- 
nied them  from  Mexico.  At  first  the  converts 
were  supported  by  the  mission,  which  in  return 
received  their  labor.     As  soon  as  they  were 


116  FORT   BROWN. 

deemed  competent  to  provide  for  themselves,  a 
portion  of  ground  was  allotted  to  them,  and  in 
this  way  a  village  sprang  up  around  each  mis- 
sion. For  several  years  these  little  commu- 
nities remained  undisturbed,  each  year  adding 
to  their  number,  and  increasing  their  resources. 
Yet,  while  reposing  in  fancied  security,  an  un- 
seen storm  was  gathering  around  them.  The 
wily  savages  of  the  plains,  true  to  the  instinct 
of  their  untamable  and  rapacious  natures,  only 
waited  for  a  fitting  opportunity  to  sweep  down 
upon  the  settlements  and  annihilate  them.  "Not 
content  with  plundering  them  of  everything 
they  could  carry  aw^ay,  they  ruthlessly  mur- 
dered all  who  could  be  found,  and  the  missions 
were  for  a  time  abandoned.  We  cannot  fail  to 
regret  that  so  lit  le  of  the  heroic  and  religious 
zeal  of  these  first  priests  remains  to  inspire  their 
followers. 

Just  outside  of  the  town  of  Brownsville  are 
the  grounds  of  the  garrison  of  Fort  Brown,  the 
spot  from  whence  General  Taylor  bombarded 
Matamoras.  Its  well  kept  fences,  and  regularly 
placed  barracks  and  buildings,  with  the  vine- 


FORT   BROWN.  117 

covered  cottages  that  form  tlie  officers'  quar- 
ters, add  in  no  small  degree  to  the  beauty  and 
importance  of  Brownsville ;  while  the  daily 
guard-mountings,  parades,  and  drills,  and  the 
accompanying  military  music,  add  greatly  to 
the  feelings  of  safety  and  importance  of  its  citi- 
zens. 

"While  at  Fort  Brown  I  saw  a  soldier  from 
tlie  ranks  drummed  out  of  the  service  for  theft. 
It  was  a  very  novel  and  amusing  sight.  He 
had  his  head  shaved,  and  his  military  coat,  hat, 
and  accoutrements  taken  from  him — his  blue 
pantaloons,  with  the  red  stripe  of  the  artillery, 
he  alone  retained  to  show  his  former  calling. 
At  evening  parade  he  was  called  in  front  of  the 
ranks,  and  publicly  dismissed,  the  officer  of  the 
day  reading  his  crime  and  its  penalty,  aloud,  in 
full.  He  was  then  obliged  to  walk  three  times 
around  the  parade-ground,  with  the  corporal 
and  sergeant  of  the  guard  following  him  closely 
with  bayonets  pointed  downward,  the  fifer  and 
two  drummers  following,  playing  "right  mer- 
rily" the  tune  of  "  Poor  Old  Soldier,  I  hope  the 
devil  won't  catch  you,"  a  gay,  mocking  air, 


118  FORT  BROWN. 

reserved  especially  for  occasions  of  tliis  kind. 
He  put  on  a  regular  Jack  Sheppard  or  Dick 
Tiirpin  swagger,  and  in  passing  the  command- 
ing officer's  quarters,  shouted  out  to  a  group 
there  assembled  lor  a  subscription  for  a  wig.  A 
prick  from  the  two  bayonets  soon  put  him  in 
mind  of  his  flagrant  breach  of  respect,  but  it 
did  not  seem  to  cure  him,  as  on  his  last  tour  he 
called  to  the  orderly  of  the  day,  who  stood  with 
military  bearing  and  a  wooden  face,  "  Good- 
bye, Tom  !  God  bless  you,  my  son  !"  The  or- 
derly's face  became  still  more  wooden  and  un- 
responsive at  this  remark,  as  in  duty  bound, 
and  a  severe  prick  from  the  guard  produced 
another  strong  reminder  of  duty.  At  the  gate 
of  the  garrison  he  was  ejected,  and  went  off 
probably  to  buy  himself  a  wig! — while  the 
guard  marched  rapidly  back  to  the  guard-house, 
followed  by  the  fifer  and  the  drummers  playing 
the  tune  of  "  The  Dashing  White  Sergeant,"  a 
sound  inspiriting  enough  to  give  the  soldier 
fresh  strength  on  the  weariest  march,  or  call 
the  most  lagging  recruit  to  his  post. 


CHAPTEK  Xn. 

THE  RIO   BRAVO   DEL  NORTE. 

"The  Corvette"  finally  arrived,  and  after 
stopping  a  few  days  at  Brownsville,  prepared  to 
start  again  on  its  return  trip,  up  the  Bio  Grande. 
We  were  the  only  passengers  on  board.  The 
accommodations  were  very  fine,  as  there  were 
only  two  state  rooms,  and  they  four  times  the 
usual  size,  and  quite  sumptuously  furnished. 

We  spent  four  days  in  our  sail  up  the  river, 
which  runs  in  a  singularly  serpentine  course ;  at 
times,  the  windings  form  almost  a  complete 
circle.  Sand-bars  were  very  numerous,  and  (to 
use  a  technical  local  phrase)  we  "  stucW^  a  num- 
ber of  times  on  the  way,  going  through  the  pro- 
cess of  several  hours'  tugging  and  pushing  each 
time  before  we  were  able  to  continue  our  voyage, 
which,  had  it  not  been  for  its  novelty,  might 
have  proved  tedious. 


120  THE   EIO   BRAVO   DEL   NOKTE. 

About  lialf  way  up  tlie  river,  we  came  to  a 
settlement,  on  the  American  side,  called  Edin- 
burgh. A  thieving  Scotchman  had  built  a 
house  here,  and  patriotically  called  it  after  his 
native  place,  which  he  had  probably  left  in  a 
hurry ! 

A  few  Mexicans  have  clustered  around  him, 
and  it  is  now  a  stopping-place  for  the  occasional 
flat-boats  that  go  up  and  down  the  river,  with 
lumber,  provisions,  &c. 

The  only  notice  we  took  of  its  existence  as  a 
city  was  by  flinging  a  package  of  papers  ashore 
from  the  mail  bag  as  we  passed  it. 
j  !N"ot  far  above  this,  we  were  suddenly  alarmed 
J  \  by  the  dreadful  cry  of  "  the  Camanches !  the  Ca- 
manches!"  and  a  momentary  pang  of  terror 
was  felt  by  the  stoutest  heart  on  board. 

Their  rifles  were  aimed  at  our  "great  canoe 
with  pinions,"  and  several  harmless  shots  pene- 
trated dijfferent  objects  on  deck. 

We  returned  the  fire,  and  most  fortunately 
heard  no  more  from  them.  Tliey  were  probably 
bound  on  other  errands  of  destruction  and  death. 

The  story  of  the  dreadful  crimes  which  they 


THE   KIO   BEAVO   DEL   NORTE.  121 

practise  on  the  inhabitants  of  this  region  will 

form  a  fearful  page  in  history.     There  could  not 

be  a  blacker  record  of  infamy  and  rapaciousness. 

The  Camanche  Indian  possesses  no  vestige  of 

the  noble  traits  attributed  to  the  red  men  of  the 

north  west.     At  the  best,  he  enjoys  the  mere 

intelligence,  or  rather  instincts,  of  the  brute; 

these  instincts  are  all  that  guide  him.     He  is 

bloody,  brutal,  licentious,  and  an  innate  thief. 

Civilization  will  probably  never  reach  him,  as 

his  feelings  towards  the  white  men  are  those  of 

implacable  hatred.     Their  blood  he  demands, 

and  takes  every  occasion  to  obtain  it.    With  the 

terrible  sound  of  his  name,  the  Mexican  mother 

strikes  terror  to  the  soul  of  her  wayward  child. 

In  fact,  he  may  be  looked  upon  as  "  the  black 

man  in  the  coal-hole "  of  more  civilized  lands. 

Actual  extermination  seems  to  suggest  itself  as 

the  only  remedy  against  this  scourge.     Nothing 

less  will  render  many  portions  of  the  State  of 

Texas  a  safe  abode  for  white  settlers. 

The  Camanche's  food  is  principally  raw  meat 

of  the  animals  killed  in  the  hunt,  which  diet 

probably  renders  more  formidable  his  ferocious 
6 


122  THE   EIO   BRAVO   DEL  NORTE. 

nature.  The  tribe  resides  further  north  than 
the  Rio  Grande,  but  roving  parties  are  continu- 
ally coming  down  for  depredation  and  murder. 

They  are  wonderful  horsemen,  more  in  their 
natural  element  on  a  horse's  back  than  any- 
where else.  An  Indian  child  is  put  on  horse- 
back before  it  can  walk,  with  a  cord  around  the 
horse's  neck,  and  taught  to  guide  it  with  its  feeble 
strength,  more  adroitly  than  can  be  readily 
imagined.  The  women  ride  astride,  and  are 
quite  as  fearless  riders  as  the  men.  Their  favor- 
ite sport  is  to  lasso  wild  horses,  which  they 
do  with  great  expertness.  A  band  of  moi^nted 
Camanches  in  full  chase  after  a  drove  of  wdld 
horses,  with  their  manes  flying  in  the  wind,  is 
said  to  be  an  intensely  exciting  sight.  The 
Indian  lassos  his  horse,  jumps  on  the  wild,  res- 
tive creature's  back,  and  remains  there  till  he  is 
in  a  measure  broken  in. 

They  say,  among  the  Indians,  that  in  break- 
ing a  horse's  spirit  they  break  his  heart,  and  he 
does  not  live  long  ;  consequently,  they  always 
endeavor  to  catch  colts,  as  "  breaking  in  "  has 
always  been  found  to  be  more  successful  during 


THE   EIO   BRAVO   DEL   NORTE.  123 

tlie  tender  period  of  youth  than  in  maturer 
years,  in  human  beings  as  well  as  wild  horses ! 

Horse-stealing  from  the  Mexicans  is  an  im- 
portant branch  of  their  business.  He  who  steals 
the  greatest  number  of  horses  is  regarded  as  the 
greatest  man  in  the  tribe.  After  all,  life  is 
made  up  of  conventionalities,  and  what  is 
honorable  with  one  nation  is  dishonor  with 
another.  If  for  horses  we  read  dollars^  I  fear 
we  should  have  a  peculiar  fact  in  regard  to  more 
enlightened  communities ! 

Government  has,  at  different  times,  organized 
parties,  and  sent  them  up  to  the  principal 
camping  grounds  of  the  tribe.  But  the  great 
sachem  and  chief  men  have  disclaimed  all  con- 
nexion with  these  marauding  parties,  placing 
them  in  the  light  of  filibusters,  beyond  their 
control.  An  astute  idea  of  theirs,  for  if  we  can- 
not control  organized  depredations  on  our 
neighbors,  how  can  we  blame  the  Indians  for 
wishing  to  extend  their  "area  of  freedom?" 
My  ideas  of  these  savages  were  acquired  from 
the  Texans  and  Mexicans,  of  course  not  from 
actual  contact ;  yet  I  cannot  refrain  from  some 


124  THE  BIO  BRAVO  DEL  NORTE. 

feelings  of  sympathy  for  a  people,  who  are 
driven  from  their  rightful  possessions,  and  can 
3ee,  in  their  ignorance,  many  excuses  for  their 
tiger-like  ferocity  and  bitter  hatred  of  those 
who  they  feel  have  wronged  them  so  sorely. 

The  night  before  we  arrived  at  the  point  of 
our  final  destination,  the  steamer  pushed  towards 
the  shore,  and  we  tied  up  for  the  night  at  a 
Mexican  ranche,  as  at  this  point  in  the  river 
sailing  by  night  was  considered  dangerous. 
We  ran  ashore  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  landed 
to  inspect  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  coun- 
try. Taking  a  road  that  led  from  the  river's 
bank  in  a  winding  direction  through  the  chap- 
paral — a  beaten  footpath  led  us  on — each  side 
overrun  with  briers,  among  them  myriads  of 
beautiful  wild  flowers,  "  uncultured  blossoms  of 
the  wilderness,"  glowing  in  delicate  and  varied 
hues,  as  they  sprung  from  the  sterile  and  sandy 
soil,  unlooked  for  traces  of  a  beauty  whose 
spirit  seems  to  linger  everywhere — we  soon 
emerged  from  the  tangled  brush-wood  of  the 
chapparal,  and  came  to  a  cleared  spot  of  some 
acres  in  extent.    The  picture  of  rural  pursuits 


THE   RIO   BRAVO   DEL   NORTE.  125 

that  here  presented  itself,  was  a  study  for  an 
artist. 

Half-a-dozen  mud-huts  neatly  thatched  with 
straw  and  open  sheds  attached  for  culinary  pur- 
poses, where  the  kettle  hung  suspended  over  a 
wood  fire,  in  real  gipsy  fashion,  while  an  old 
weather-beaten  crone  bent  over,  stirring  the 
pot-au-feu  of  frijoles  that  were  to  make  the 
evening  meal. 

The  men  who  had  returned  from  the  chase  or 
from  the  fields  lay  about  on  the  ground,  or  leaned 
lazily  over  the  fence,  talking  to  the  women  who 
were  milking  a  flock  of  goats,  and  some  cows 
that  the  children  had  just  driven  in  from  their 
scanty  pasturage  in  the  chapparal. 

One  Mexican  girl,  as  she  milked  her  goats, 
talked  and  smiled  most  coquettishly,  the  while 
showing  her  beautiful  eyes  and  teeth  to  great 
advantage  to  a  "  greaser,"  who  evidently  appre- 
ciated her  charms !  His  slouched  sombrero  and 
enormous  black  moustache,  with  traces  in  his 
dress  of  the  picturesque  garb  of  Spain,  produced 
an  exceedingly  artistic  effect. 

The  peasant  woDi.en  wear  a  white  chemisette 


126  THE   EIO   BRAVO   DEL   NORTE. 

decolletee,  with  short  sleeves,  and  a  dark  brigh^ 
colored  petticoat ;  they  are  rather  slovenly,  and 
consequently  far  from  attractive,  although  at  a 
little  distance  they  look  well. 

A  large  garden  and  a  good-sized  patch  of 
Indian  corn,  interspersed  with  melon  vines,  to- 
gether with  cattle  and  an  enormous  flock  of 
barn-yard  fowls,  completed  the  scene.  It  took 
me  back  in  my  mind  to  past  centuries  that 
Schiller  sings  of — 

"  The  age  when  the  Earth  was  at  play 
In  the  childhood  and  bloom  of  creation, 
When  no  grief  and  no  guile  the  calm  shepherd-race  knew ; 
And  their  hfe  was  the  absence  of  care," 

when  Chloe  and  her  shepherd  swain  were  the 
chosen  theme  of  the  poet's  pen. 

The  children  roamed  "  sans  culottes"  as  usual 
in  this  climate,  and  were  very  pretty,  although 
it  was  painfully  evident  that  the  institution  of 
Saturday  night  ablutions,  common  in  all  well 
organized  nurseries,  was  unheard  of  among  these 
poor  little  Mexican  babies ! 

The  Mexican  peasant  of  the  Rio  Grande  is  a 


THE   RIO   BRAVO    DEL   NORTE.  127 

character  peculiar  to  that  region  of  country, 
possessing  within  himself  all  the  elements  of  a 
social  existence.  He  is  his  own  shoemaker  and 
tailor ;  the  leather  of  his  garments  and  of  his 
sandals  is  made  from  the  skins  of  the  animals  he 
has  himself  killed. 

He  makes  his  own  carts,  hewing  the  wheels 
out  of  the  solid  wood.  He  makes  the  plough 
he  uses,  which  is  a  sharp-pointed  log,  with  a 
pole  at  one  end  by  which  it  is  guided,  and  one 
at  the  other  by  which  it  is  drawn.  To  it  a  pair 
of  oxen  are  strapped  by  the  horns ;  sometimes  a 
mule  and  a  cow  are  yoked  together  to  drag  it ! 
His  harrow  is  made  of  the  branch  of  a  tree.  The 
corn  is  put  into  the  ground  and  then  left  to 
Providence  to  either  ripen  or  dry  up,  of  which 
there  is  an  even  chance. 

After  planting  he  starts  out  on  the  prairie  to 
lasso  wild  horses  and  cattle,  and  if  he  escapes 
the  Camanche,  he  generally  brings  home  a 
supply  of  stock  for  the  ensuing  year.  He  builds 
his  house  of  straw,  reeds,  stone  and  adobes, 
without  either  nails  or  hammer;  lingers  out 
his  inoffensive  peaceful  life  almost  invariably 


128  THE   EIO  BRAVO   DEL   NORTE. 

to  a  good  old  age ;  and  goes  to  his  grave  without 
knowing  or  caring  anything  about  the  world, 
except  that  portion  of  it  which  is  bounded  by 
the  horizon  of  his  own  ranche. 


CHAPTEE  Xin. 


BINGGOLD   BAKEACKS. 


"We  reached  Camp  Kinggold  on  the  fourth  day, 
at  noon.  The  arrival  of  the  steamer  seemed  to 
be  an  event  that  created  a  great  excitement. 
All  the  soldiers  off  duty,  and  several  officers, 
awaited  our  landing  on  the  dock.  This  being 
the  only  mode  of  communication  that  these 
exiles  have  with  their  kind,  the  arrival  of  a  mail 
and  newspapers  from  the  world  beyond  is  na- 
turally an  important  occurrence. 

The  military  post  of  Ringgold  Barracks  rose 
before  us  on  a  high  sandy  bluff,  its^  rows  of 
long,  low,  whitewashed  modern  buildings,  placed 
at  regular  intervals  around  a  level  drill  ground, 
in  the  centre  of  which  rose  the  flag-staff',  with 
its  colors  hanging  droopingly,  unstirred  by  the 
sultry  air.  These  buildings  were  the  govern- 
ment sto7*e-houses,  soldiers'  barracks,  and  ofii- 
6* 


130  KINGGOLD   BARRACKS. 

cers'  quarters ;  they  all  reminded  me  of  the 
house  of  the  foolish  man,  "who  built  his  founda- 
tion upon  the  sand,"  all  being  in  a  similar 
plight.  There  were  no  signs  of  vegetation 
around ;  not  even  a  blade  of  grass  was  to  be 
seen.  Tlie  sentinels  monotonously  walking  guard 
gave  unmistakable  token  of  a  military  post. 

The  deep  feeling  of  relief  that  our  long  jour- 
ney was  at  length  at  an  end,  made  me  greet  with 
delight  the  first  moment  that  I  landed  upon  the 
parched  and  uninviting  sand  which  composed 
the  bluff  upon  which  the  barracks  were  built. 
Probably  on  the  principle  that  "  any  hut  unto 
a  homeless  man  is  welcome,"  it  was  with  intense 
pleasure  that  I  took  possession  of  the  house  as- 
signed to  me.  Peace  and  quiet,  after  the  tur- 
moil and  excitement  of  sea-sickness  and  travel- 
ling, seemed  what  I  might  at  least  find  here, 
and  I  now  look  back  to  the  year  passed  in  this 
isolated  spot  as  one  full  of  pleasant  recollec- 
tions. 

Each  day  was  filled  with  new  impressions  of 
a  new  country  and  new  people.  Surrounded 
by  those  whose  intelligence  and  polish  would 


RINGGOLD    BARRACKS.  131 

have  been  appreciated  in  the  most  elegant  salons 
in  the  world,  I  can  never  forget  all  the  kindness 
and  good-will  shown  to  me  in  Texas  both  by 
onr  officers  and  the  Texans.  I  never  saw  a  wo- 
man while  there,  except  a  Mexican  peasant  or 
a  camp  woman.  The  abigail  I  had  taken  with 
me  leceived  an  offer  of  marriage  while  in 
Browiisville,  which  (being  over  thirty-five)  she 
accepted  with  alacrity,  preferring  a  permanent 
situation  at  the  head  of  the  establishment  of  a 
sentimental  blacksmith,  to  one  less  certain.  In 
consequence,  I  was  left  to  the  tender  mercies  of 
an  African  valet  de  chambre,  who  took  the  place 
oi  femvfu  de  chambre,  to  which  he  had  been 
drilled  by  some  navy  officers,  whom  he  accom- 
panied ou  a  cruise  in  the  Mediterranean.  He 
proved  himself  what  in  pathetic  language  might 
be  called  the  comfort  of  this  period  of  my  life ! 
This  faithful  negro  slione  both  literally  and  figu- 
ratively in  many  capacities  ;  he  was  at  once 
chambermaid,  waiter,  and  housekeeper ;  and 
like  that  faithful  Scotchman,  Caleb  Balderstone, 
prided  himself  on  keeping  up  the  style  of  the 
family !     No  matter  how  forlorn  the  fare,  the 


132  RINGGOLD   BARRACKS. 

silver,  glass,  and  cliina  glistened  in  immaculate 
purity,  and  Joseph  Williams  always,  I  may  say, 
presided  at  our  board  with  an  untiring  grace 
and  elegance  of  demeanor !  A  soldier  officiated 
as  cook,  and  with  the  occasional  assistance  of  a 
drummer-boy  as  scullion,  divided  the  labors  of 
the  household,  with  which  I  never  dreamed  of 
interfering. 

It  was  May  when  we  reached  there,  and  we 
were  plunged  into  a  tropical  summer,  which 
would  have  been  unendurable  had  it  not  been 
for  the  delightfully  cool  nights,  when  a  sea- 
breeze,  full  of  the  fresh  aroma  of  the  ocean, 
would  spring  up.  During  the  heat  of  the  day, 
aggravating  visions  of  Newport  would  at  times 
come  across  me,  but  in  spite  of  all  inconveni- 
ences novelty  is  so  charming  that  I  found  a 
great  deal  to  enjoy  in  this  new  land ;  the  cli- 
mate was  very  salubrious,  and  cholera  almost 
unheard  of.  During  the  summer  months  I  re- 
mained a  great  deal  at  home.  It  was  not  till 
the  fall  that  we  commenced  riding  about  the 
country  in  search  of  adventure  and  novelty. 

These  months  passed  by  rapidly.     I  amused 


KING  GOLD    BAKRACKS. 

myself  making  a  kind  of  Robinson  Crusoe  col- 
lection of  pets.  By  September  it  consisted  of  a 
fawn,  two  goats,  a  flock  of  doves,  a  brood  of 
chickens,  a  parrot,  four  dogs  of  different  kinds, 
several  mocking  birds,  and  some  orioles,  to  say 
nothing  of  a  tiger  cub,  of  whom  I  had  a  mortal 
fear,  who  was  kept  chained,  and  poked  at,  and 
fed  on  raw  meat  by  our  faithful  negro,  who  took 
these  judicious  means  of  taming  him  ! 

This  small  specimen  of  "  a  happy  family"  was 
kept  in  a  large  inclosure  in  the  rear  of  the  house, 
surrounded  by  a  high  fence  of  interlaced  brush- 
wood, peculiar  to  Mexican  ranchos. 

In  a  mounted  regiment,  blood  horses  of  course 
abound,  but  they  all  had  too  much  spirit  to  go 
in  harness,  although  superb  under  the  bit.  We 
could  not  extend  our  rides  very  far  from  the  gar- 
rison, on  account  of  the  frequent  close  neighbor- 
hood of  the  Camanches.  The  only  safe  ride 
was  a  racecourse  just  outside  of  the  govern- 
ment grounds.  We  made  many  unsuccessful 
efforts  to  get  a  horse  that  would  go  in  a  wagon, 
and  one  day  heard  of  a  pair  that  were  to  be  sold, 
which  had boen  ridden  down  from ]N"orthern  Texas 


134:  EINGGOLD   BARRACKS. 

across  the  prairies,  and  were  used  up,»by  being 
overworked  on  the  road.  Their  owner,  a  rough 
Texan,  now  offered  them  for  sale.  One  died 
before  we  got  there,  and  the  other !  A  mere  ver- 
bal description  can  never  do  him  justice  !  Bibs 
were  the  chief  impression  he  produced,  but  his 
owner  said  oats  and  rest  would  restore  him,  and 
he  would  fatten  up,  and  become  a  splendid  crit- 
ter !  With  this  vague  hope  he  was  purchased 
for  "  about  five  dollars,"  his  owner  "  reckoned." 
1  did  not  wonder  at  the  snorting  and  pawing  of 
the  ground  (expressive  of  impatience  and  dis- 
gust) performed  by  the  horse  I  was  sitting,  as  he 
came  in  contact  with  this  miserable  specimen 
of  his  race,  while  it  took  all  my  strength  to  hold 
him  in. 

The  way-worn  creature  was  sent  to  the  garri- 
son that  afternoon,  but  evidently  felt  the  exer- 
tion to  be  too  much  for  his  feeble  frame.  Oats 
and  bran  were  administered  with  but  small 
success.  For  weeks  he  lingered  on,  occasionally 
taking  little  walks  or  standing  mournfully  un- 
der the  shed  which  was  his  stable,  looking  so 
sad,  so  patien%  and  so  motionless,  that  rows  of 


RINGGOLD    BAKRxiCKS.  135 

blackbirds  would  perch  on  his  sharp  backbone, 
unmolested  by  the  feeble  switches  of  his  scanty 
tail !  Unlike  other  horses,  he  did  not  "  feel  his 
oats ;"  his  prime  had  passed ;  there  was  no  more 
"  fattening  up"  for  him  in  this  world.  That  he 
would  never  be  a  "  splendid  critter"  again  was 
evident !  He  finally  died  from  swallowing  a 
wine-glass!  A  peculiar  death,  one  of  unfre- 
quent  occurrence,  and  worth  at  least  a  word  of 
explanation. 

A  basket  of  straw,  which  had  been  used  in 
packing  glass,  stood  near  his  shed.  He  took  a 
mouthful  of  it,  jpour  jpasser  le  temps^  one  sultry 
morning.  A  wine-glass  remained  among  it,  en- 
cased most  elaborately  in  hay  (as  is  the  wont  of 
professional  packers  to  encase  them).  This  he 
recklessly  bit  at,  it  got  into  his  throat,  and 
proved  the  instrument  that  accomplished  his 
death.  Peace  be  to  his  veteran  bones,  for  thej' 
were  many! 

Another  of  my  dumb  friends  to  whom  I  can- 
not fail  to  pay  the  tribute  of  a  few  words  of 
remembrance,  was — a  chicken  ! — whose  benevo- 
lence of  disposition  and  kindness  of  heart  ele 


136  RINGGOLD   BAREACKS. 

vated  liim  in  my  eyes  far  above  the  level  of  the 
humble  race  to  which  he  belonged.  His  perso 
nal  appearance  was  yellow,  delicate,  and  very 
bobtailed!  his  mien  was  subdued  and  even 
melancholy,  so  much  so  that  he  involuntarily 
reminded  me  of  a  young  divinity  student  whoni 
I  had  known ! 

An  old  hen  of  his  acquaintance  had  a  brood 
of  children,  one  of  whom  she  maltreated,  or,  to 
use  the  technical  phrase,  "  hen-pecked,"  so  that 
the  poor  thing,  too  small  to  pick  for  itself,  would 
have  been  left  to  die,  had  not  this  tender-hearted 
and  philanthropic  chicken  come  to  its  rescue. 
He  took  it  literally  "  under  his  wing,"  where  it 
slept  at  night.  He  picked  food  for  it,  providing 
it  with  grasshoppers,  spiders,  and  other  delica- 
cies. One  was  never  to  be  seen  without  the 
other;  they  presented  quite  a  touching  sight, 
even  if  they  were  only  chickens.  Their  final 
fate  was  a  sad  one  !  At  times  our  larder  was  in 
a  deplorable  condition,  quite  bare,  without  a 
resource  left  by  which  it  might  be  replenished  ; 
while  on  other  occasions,  when  a  Mexican 
would  ride  into  camp  with  a  dozen  wild  tur- 


KINGGOLD  BARRACKS.  137 

keys  swung  across  his  saddle,  it  was  quite  the 
opposite.  Sometimes  an  Indian  hunter  would 
ride  up  to  the  door  with  a  whole  deer,  even 
the  skin  and  antlers,  and  scores  of  prairie  hens, 
and  game  of  every  kind,  hanging  in  the  rear. 
At  such  times  there  was  nothing  to  complain  of, 
but  at  others,  if  a  piece  of  kid  or  rabbit,  or  a 
few  turnips  (sold  for  a  real^  or  a  shilling  apiece), 
could  be  obtained,  it  was  looked  upon  as  almost 
too  good  fortune  to  be  real. 

At  one  period,  which  I  shall  never  forget,  the 
quartermaster's  stores  were  reduced  to  mouldy 
flour  and  rancid  pork,  two  luxuries  that  are  not 
generally  very  highly  appreciated,  even  by  the 
unfastidious. 

A  long  drought  had  lowered  the  river  by 
extensive  evaporations,  so  as  to  render  it  unna- 
vigable;  and  the  same  cause  had  parched  the 
country  around,  making  it  even  more  than 
usually  sterile  and  unproductive. 

The  steamboat  with  the  monthly  supplies  of 
provisions  could  not  get  up  the  river.  Starva- 
tion seemed  staring  us  in  the  face.  Even  frijoles 
(the    Mexican    bean,    an    unfailing    stand-by) 


138  EINGGOLD   BAREACK8. 

became  scarce,  and  butter,  milk,  bread,  and  other 
such  small  but  necessary  items,  were  utterly 
unknown  to  us  for  weeks.  At  this  period  din- 
ner became  a  dreadful  ordeal,  it  seemed  like 
swallowing  a  succession  of  pills ;  but  he  would 
hkve  been  a  cowardly  soldier  who  complained, 
when  all  suffered  alike,  and  the  subject  of  food 
was  one  that  was  dropped  by  mutual  consent ! — 
discussion  would  only  have  aggravated  the  evil. 

It  was  during  this  time,  when  sickness  and 
"  les  vapeurs  noirs"  confined  me  to  the  Louse, 
that  my  poor  little  friend,  the  chicken  and  the 
forlorn  little  one  that  he  had  befriended,  were 
transformed  into  an  ignoble  fricassee.  They  were 
not  roasted,  out  of  respect  to  my  feelings,  as  by 
their  difference  of  size  (which  was  marked)  I 
might  have  recognised  them!  "No  instinct 
warned  me  that  I  was  partaking  of  my  friends. 
They  must  have  tasted  tenderly,  if  the  mind 
has  the  influence  over  the  body  they  say  it  has. 

I  was  afterwards  told  the  particulars  of  their 
fate :  As  our  resources  diminished  for  supplying 
the  table,  the  eyes  of  our  colored  dependant 
fixerl  themselves  on  this  loving  pair,  who,  how- 


EINGGOLD  BARRACKS.  139 

ever,  fought  manfully  and  sagaciously  for  their 
lives, — three  successive  days  retiring  under  the 
house  just  before  the  very  hour  of  execution 
arrived,  with  an  intelligent  expression  of  "  no, 
you  don't,"  on  their  pointedly  expressive  faces^ 
Finally,  they  were  cut  off  while  in  the  arms  oi^ 
Morpheus  (if  Morpheus  admits  poultry  into 
those  precincts!),  and  formed  the  above  men- 
tioned dish.  - 

I  felt  very  badly  on  the  following  day,  when 
I  found  that  they  had  been  eaten,  but  was  com- 
forted by  the  thought  of  how  many  in  a  state  of 
famine  had  been  obliged  to  eat  their  intimate 
friends,  and  even  their  best  fitting  boot !  It  is 
always  best  to  philosophize.  In  fact,  some  of 
our  fates  would  be  unendurable  were  it  not  for 
this  wonderful  and  unfailing  panacea. 

At  last  the  joyful  news  arrived  that  "The 
Corvette "  was  a  few  miles  down  the  river  with 
supplies,  but  ^'stuck"^^  in  a  sand-bar,  and  the 
time  of  its  precise  arrival  consequently  very 
uncertain.  Two  "  gallant  sons  of  Mars  "  immedi- 
ately volunteered,  and  started  on  horseback  to 
go  down  the  river,  and  bring  me  some  supplies* 


140  EINGGOLD   BARRACKS. 

They  returned  towards  evening,  heavilv  laden, 
receiving  my  gratitude  as  "  ample  compensation" 
for  a  day's  toil.  A  fine  illustration  of  the  word 
jpoliteness!   and  quite  worthy  of  record. 

Under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  the 
food  was  flavored  with  red  ants,  which  were  so 
thick  that  it  was  impossible  to  eat  without  de- 
vouring them  by  scores.  They  tasted  something 
like  caraway  seed,  and  were  not  as  disagreeable  as 
a  novice  might  suppose ! 

The  water  we  drank  came  from  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  was  invariably  lukewarm.  After  straining 
it,  it  was  kept  in  a  stone  jug  encased  in  wet  flan- 
nel, and  suspended  by  a  cord  in  the  air,  for  the 
purpose  of  cooling  it  as  much  as  possible. 

The  butter  was  almost  unpalatable  from  its  soft 
liquid  appearance,  and  was  kept  in  stone  jars 
under  ground  with  bricks  laid  over  them.  The 
milk  was  that  of  cows  and  goats,  promiscuously 
milked  in  the  same  pail. 

The  vermin,  the  famine,  hot  winds,  and  dry 
soil,  which  caused  clouds  of  dust  to  fill  the  sultry 
air  of  July  and  August  and  lodge  on  everything, 
made  me  begin  to  think  that  General  Twiggs' 


KINGGOLD   BAKRACKS.  141 

advice,  that  it  would  be  better  to  remain  id 
New  Orleans  and  keep  a  thread  and  needle 
store  than  go  to  Texas,  had  been  quite  judicious! 
However,  these  evils  began  to  disappear  in  a 
measure  as  the  season  of  fall  and  winter 
approached,  and  our  rides  became  longer  and 
more  varied. 


CHAPTEE  XIV, 


About  a  mile  above  Ringgold  Barracks,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Rio  Grande,  lies  the  town  of  "  Rio 
Grande  City,"  until  quite  recently  known  as 
"  Davis's  Ranche,"  so  called  from  its  founder 
and  present  chief  magistrate,  the  Honorable  H. 
Clay  Davis,  upon  the  history  of  whose  life  it 
would  not  be  uninteresting,  perhaps,  to  dwell 
for  a  moment. 

He  left  his  home  in  Kentucky  when  quite  a 
boy.  His  father  had  been  dead  some  years, 
and  becoming  tired  of  the  restraint  imposed 
upon  him  by  an  injudicious  mother,  he  decided 
to  seek  for  himself  his  fortune  or  his  fate. 

Commeiicing  his  new  career  by  a  rash  en- 
counter on  a  Mississippi  river  steamboat,  in 
which  he  wounded  (mortally,  as  was  supposed) 
a  fellow-passenger,  he  was  compelled  to  take  a 


143 

hurried  departure  for  Arkansas.  Alone,  with- 
out a  friend  and  without  a  dollar,  a  fugitive 
from  justice,  perhaps  a  murderer,  a  houseless 
wanderer  in  a  wild,  unsettled  region !  Fine 
prospects  for  a  young  lad  of  fifteen,  and  rather 
a  peculiar  "start  in  the  world"  for  a  hero  I 
^Nevertheless  he  entered  upon  the  task  of  sup- 
porting existence  with  no  misgivings  as  to  the 
future,  yet  without  any  fixedness  of  purpose 
or  ambition,  a  fault  which  has  lost  to  the  world 
many  a  noble  spirit,  who  would  otherwise  have 
left  behind  him  an  honored  name.  A  man 
seldom  reaches  the  "  mountain  tops  of  fame  " 
who  has  not  placed  his  foot  upon  the  ladder  in 
early  life.  The  eager  aspirations  of  youth  ex- 
cite to  the  effort,  while  the  cool  judgment  of 
manhood  directs  the  purpose.  As  the  hot  sun 
of  summer  calls  the  fruit  into  existence,  so  the 
less  heated  rays  of  autumn  mellow  it  into  ripe- 
ness and  perfection  of  beauty. 

It  would  be  a  long  story  to  follow  his  earlier 
career.  Its  many  vicissitudes  taught  him  self- 
reliance,  and  its  many  escapes  from  danger 
gave  him  a  recklessness  which,  in  after  years, 


144 

was  exhibited  to  a  remarkable  degree  in  the 
Texas  war  of  independence. 

He  had  joined  the  first  expedition  into  this 
State,  where  he  found  himself  among  men  of 
tastes  and  dispositions  similar  to  his  own.  He 
was  actively  engaged  in  all  those  battles  which 
gave  the  world  so  strong  an  impression  of  An- 
glo-Saxon endurance.  Fighting  simply  for  the 
love  of  it,  he  cared  less  for  the  result  than  for 
the  pleasurable  excitement  it  produced.  After 
the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States 
his  "occupation"  was  "gone,"  and  he  became 
an  aimless  wanderer  once  more,  until  at  last  he 
found  himself,  after  many  weary  days'  travel, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Eio  Grande. 

It  was  at  the  twilight  hour  that  he  arrived 
there,  and  throwing  himself  on  the  ground  at 
the  foot  of  an  ebony  tree,  he  soon  fell  asleep, 
and  dreamed  of  his  home  and  early  years,  of 
his  mother's  admonitions,  and  his  desertion  of 
her — of  the  struggles  he  had  gone  through 
since,  and  the  temptations  he  had  encountered 
and  yielded  to.  The  sun  was  high  in  the  hea- 
vens before  his  sleep  was  disturbed,  but  he 


145 

awoke  a  clianged  man.  Out  of  these  dreams 
had  come  a  determination  to  retrieve  the  past. 
How  well  he  has  kept  his  determination  is 
shown  by  the  flourishing  settlement  that  now 
marks  what  was  then  a  barren  spot. 

The  ebony  tree  has  been  inclosed  and  sur- 
rounded by  a  seat  of  white  plaster.  It  stands 
conspicuously  at  the  entrance  of  the  town,  and 
is  remarkable  in  this  barren  land  for  its  height 
and  beauty.  It  is  carefully  watered  and  che- 
rished with  feelings  of  sentiment  for  the  dreams 
inspired  under  its  protecting  branches.  It  forms 
the  favorite  evening  resort  for  the  principal  men 
of  the  place,  who  meet  here  to  discuss  their 
own  affairs,  those  of  their  neighbors,  and  the 
nation  at  large,  quite  in  the  style  of  Gold- 
smith's 

"  Hawthorn  bush,  with  seats  beneath  the  shade." 

Clay  Davis  was  a  true  specimen  of  the  Texan, 
tall  and  athletic,  yet  his  delicately  cut  features, 
carefully  trimmed  moustache,  and  air  distingue, 
bespoke  rather  the  niodern  carpet  knight  than 
the  hero  and  pioneer  of  the  wilderness.     Associa- 


146 

tion  with  the  Mexicans  had  given  him  a  peculiar 
style  of  manner,  a  mixture  of  Western  frank- 
ness and  the  stateliness  of  the  Spaniard;  a 
low-toned  voice,  and  a  deference  mixed  with 
assurance. 

There  were  many  rumors  afloat  of  his  gallant 
bravery,  and  one  that  reminded  me  of  David 
and  Goliahj  in  which  he  had  slain  a  famous 
Camanche  chieftain  in  single  comhat,  ridding 
the  frontier  of  one  of  its  direst  scourges. 

"We  do  not  have  to  go  beyond  our  native  land 
for  material  for  the  wildest  romance.  To  a 
mind  like  Cooper's,  Texas  opens  a  n<iw  field, 
full  of  intense  and  varied  interest  for  th«e  novel 
writer. 

Mr.  Davis  always  greeted  us  with  a  welcome 
when  we  made  our  appearance  in  the  »*anche, 
and  frequently  sent  presents  of  venison,  game,  or 
melons  to  the  garrison. 

He  once  sent  me  a  white  tea  rose,  the  only 
one  that  had  ever  been  seen  in  this  part  of  the 
world,  accompanied  by  a  poetical  epi&tle  in 
jprose,  which  I  would  copy  for  its  intrinsic  beauty, 
were  it  not  too  personal.     It  was  a  fine  spee^^wen 


147 

of  the  peculiar  and  uncultivated  natural  elo- 
quence of  the  West,  where  exalted  sentiment, 
and  what  might  seem  to  us  overstrained  poetry 
of  expression,  is  quite  natural. 

These  Western  people  have  not  yet  been 
brought  under  the  influence  of  the  modern 
school  of  light  literature  originated  by  certain 
sarcastic  and  popular  authors,  who,  with  their 
thousand  imitators,  draw  scenes  from  debauched 
life  in  populous  cities,  which  turn  all  that  is 
great  and  soul-stirring  to  ridicule,  regarding 
satire  on  noble,  elevated,  and  philanthropic  sub- 
jects, as  an  evidence  of  high  intellectual  powers. 
These  writers  have  done  more  towards  destroying 
the  poetry  of  life,  than  to  elevate  and  improve 
the  mind,  differing  widely  from  the  quaint 
humor  and  heroic  picturing  of  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
which  cause  alternately  a  smile  and  glow  of 
enthusiasm. 

Kio  Grande  City  was  first  settled  in  1848,  and 
is  now  a  prosperous  village,  containing  about 
one  thousand  inhabitants,  consisting  of  Ameri- 
cans, Mexicans,  and  a  few  Spaniards. ; 

The  buildings  consist  of  Mexican  hackals,  the 


14:8  davil's  eanche. 

brick  stores  of  the  Americans,  and  the  store- 
houses and  dwelling  of  Mr.  Davis,  which  front 
a  plaza,  where  the  market  is  daily  held  in  the 
open  air.  The  lazy  Mexicans  lie  around  in 
the  sun,  with  large  open  baskets  spread  out  be- 
fore them,  containing  the  most  untempting  mer- 
chandise, of  scanty  vegetables,  goat's  flesh,  and 
beef,  cut  in  strips  and  dried  in  the  sun.  This 
they  sell  by  the  yard  ;  so  that  a  person,  in  going 
to  market,  is  afforded  a  convenient  way  of  mea- 
suring accurately  the  appetite  of  those  he  has  to 
provide  for!  The  cakes  and  confectionery — 
made  of  flour,  lard,  and  molasses — are  disagree- 
able even  to  look  at.  Their  taste  it  is  impossible 
to  imagine. 

The  fandango  court-yard  here,  as  in  all  towns 
where  Mexican  habits  at  all  prevail,  is  one  of 
the  chief  attractions,  and  forms  one  of  its  prin- 
cipal features ;  a  square  inclosure,  with  three 
sides  benches,  and  one  side  booths,  where 
dancing,  drinking,  and  gambling  are  kept  up 
the  greater  part  of  the  night. 

On  the  outskirts  of  the  town  the  people  are 
annually  fencing  in  new  corn  fields,  so  that  in 


149 

spite  of  the  barrenness  of  tlie  land,  the  place 
looks  quite  thriving,  having  somewhat  that  as- 
pect of  fresh  invigorating  progress  so  generally 
found  among  our  young  and  vigorous  people, 
who,  like  poor  "  Joe  Allalone,"  are  always 
"  moving  on,  moving  on." 

A  billiard  room,  an  eating  saloon,  a  bakery, 
and  even  a  "  pharmacie,"  with  a  most  preten- 
tious soda  water  fountain,  are  found  here.  All 
these  attractions  and  comparative  luxuries 
render  it  a  place  of  great  importance  in  this  part 
of  Texas. 

This  was  a  great  rendezvous  for  filibusters, 
among  whom  could  be  found  more  true-souled 
honesty  and  genuine  generosity  than  many 
would  be  led  to  suppose. 

Many  a  dare-devil  Texan  would  scorn  the 
paltry  meanness,  and  fire  at  the  acts  of  fraud 
perpetrated  by  friend  on  friend  which  are  of 
not  unfrequent  occurrence  in  our  civilized  me- 
tropolis. 

In  the  Texan  are  combined  the  raciness  of  the 
Kentuckian,  the  Creole  impetuosity  of  Louisia- 
na, with  the  reckless  heart-in-hand  spirit  of  the 


150  DAVIS'S   KANCHE. 

South- West.  Thej^  follow  different  callings, 
from  the  scout  to  the  office-holder  under  the 
Government,  but  there  exist  no  false  distinc- 
tions among  them.  A  man  stands  simply  on 
his  own  merits.  The  word  blase,  or  the  idea  con- 
veyed by  it,  is  unknown.  Fresh  as  nature 
around  them,  their  hearts  beat  true  to  the  call 
of  friendship,  and  respect  for  women  seems  an 
innate  principle,  while  daring  and  bravery  are  no 
second  nature,  but  nature  itself. 

The  chances  of  life  are  so  continually  perilled 
that  it  creates  a  recklessness  unknown  to  us 
purchasers  of  life-preservers,  who  repose  in  the 
security  of  a  private  watch ! 

Our  rides,  on  account  of  the  climate,  always 
took  place  towards  evening.  The  twilight  here 
is  very  short,  day  at  its  decline  merging  sudden- 
ly into  darkness.  The  horses  always  took  the 
same  direction,  the  road  that  lay  between  the 
garrison  and  the  ranche.  It  was  a  beaten  cattle- 
track,  cut  through  the  chapparal,  forming  part 
of  what  had  once  been  a  race-ground  used 
by  the  officers  during  the  late  war,  when  sta- 
tioned opposite  here  at  Camargo. 


151 

In  these  rides  we  frequently  met  a  peaceable 
peasant  driving  home  his  flock  of  goats  for  their 
evening  milking,  or  a  band  of  huntsmen  wrapped 
in  gay  blankets,  bright  ribbons  streaming  from 
their  sombreros,  returning  from  the  day's  chase 
with  the  game  hung  over  their  horses'  backs. 

We  were  obliged  to  ride  slowly  on  account  of 
the  heavy,  deep  sand,  and  thickly  growing  briers 
and  cacti  which  ran  all  over  the  ground.  Walk- 
ing was  impossible,  even  if  the  scorpions,  taran- 
tulas, and  venomous  snakes  lurking  in  the  scanty 
vegetation,  had  been  more  rare. 

There  never  was  a  country  more  unfitted  by 
nature  to  be  the  home  of  civilized  man,  than 
this  region  of  the  lower  Kio  Grande  in  Texas. 
It  seems  to  hate  civilization.  Everything  looks 
discouragingly  on  the  settler,  refusing  to  smile 
on  his  most  earnest  efforts,  pointing  with  a 
grim  and  solemn  aspect  to  those  flowery  plains 
of  the  I^orth  where  encouragement  and  plenty 
await  him.  It  seems  only  to  be  intended  as 
a  home  for  desperate  men,  escaped  refugees 
from  the  law ;  men  who  live  in  the  saddle,  and 
on  the  prairie  seek  their  subsistence;   such  as 


-< 


152 

give  to  Texas  any  bad  reputation  its  population 
may  have. 

In  this  wild  region  deeds  are  sometimes 
enacted  which  make  the  blood  run  cold  to  read 
of ;  yet  we  should  bear  in  mind  the  vast  extent 
of  the  country,  and  not  judge  of  the  character 
of  the  State  by  the  isolated  acts  of  a  roving 
population. 

The  Americans  on  the  Kio  Grande  may  be 
considered  as  the  most  daring,  adventurous  set 
of  men  in  the  world.  Actuated  solely  by  the 
reckless  spirit  of  adventure  and  restless  love  for 
the  new  and  exciting,  many  of  their  lives  present 
scenes  of  peril  which  none  could  encounter 
unless  possessed  of  iron  nerve,  and  which  have 
left  upon  their  souls  the  impress  of  a  new 
nature. 

The  history  of  each  differs  from  the  other,  yet 
through  the  character  of  all  there  runs  a  tinge 
of  romance  and  chivalry  which  cannot  fail  to 
excite  our  admiration,  although  we  might  wish 
to  see  these  strong  energies  directed  to  a  better 
purpose. 

They  are  essentially  a  peculiar  race,  with 


153 

marked  individualities  belonging  to  tliem  alone. 
Their  innate  nobility  and  high-toned  sense  of 
honor  reseiable  more  the  days  of  Ivanhoe  and 
Richard  Coeur-de-Lion,  than  our  more  modern 
acceptation  of  the  term. 

The  early  pioneers  of  all  our  Western  States 
were  restless  spirits  from  the  colonies  who,  as 
civilization  advanced,  and  the  first  settlements 
became  thickly  populated,  possessing  many  of 
the  restraints  and  few  of  the  advantages  of 
European  cities,  pushed  onward  into  the  wilder- 
ness to  find,  like  Robin  Hood  and  his  "  merrie 
men,"  a  home  in  the  forest  glade,  their  sole  com- 
panionship nature  in  her  varied  forms  of  beauty. 
Civilization,  as  it  has  followed  them,  has  urged 
them,  like  the  red  men,  westward.  Familiar 
and  hourly  intercourse  with  nature  has  given 
them  a  tone  of  mind  differing  widely  from  the 
men  of  the  East,  who  would  amaze  them  by 
their  "business  tact"  as  much  as  they  in 
their  turn  astonish  these  sons  of  trade  by  their 
hardy  enduring  lives  of  self-exposure  and  pri- 
vation. 

Since  we  left  Texas,  there  has  been  a  great 


154  DAVIS'S   RANCHE. 

overflow  in  the  Eio  Grande,  and  everything 
green  has  flourished.  The  crops  have  been 
very  luxuriant.  They  however  have  been  com- 
pelled to  pay  for  this  a  high  price,  as  the  fever 
and  ague  has  become  very  prevalent  in  con- 
sequence, "  the  shakes"  (as  they  call  this  malady 
all  over  the  newly  settled  portions  of  the  West) 
preventing  in  a  measure  the  enjoyment  of  this 
unwonted  luxuriance  and  plenty. 

While  we  were  there  the -climate  was  very 
salubrious,  in  fact  famously  so ;  the  winter 
days  were  as  soft,  and  warm,  and  balmy  as  at 
the  Havana.  The  summer-heat  indeed  would 
have  been  almost  unbearable,  were  it  not  for  the 
cool  refreshing  night  breezes. 

In  the  rainy  season  the  river  is  apt  to  over- 
flow its  banks,  and  leave  numerous  little  lakes 
and  large  pools  wherever  there  is  a  depres- 
sion of  the  ground.  The  soil  prevents  rapid 
absorption,  and  causes  these  to  remain  for  weeks. 
In  them  the  Mexican  women  can  be  seen  at  any 
hour  of  the  day  washing  clothes,  while  their 
little  naked  children  are  splashing  in  the  water 
in  great  glee,  or  lying  asleep    on    the    bare 


155 

ground,  under  a  shady  bush,  like  so  many- 
little  animals. 

On  ordinary  occasions  the  river  is  used  for 
lavatory  purposes,  and  women  washing  their 
clothes  on  the  banks,  while  others  spread  them 
on  the  brush-wood  to  dry,  form  a  very  pretty 
scene. 

Towards  evening  it  is  full  of  bathers,  men, 
women,  and  children.  They  swim  with  pe- 
culiar agility,  more  like  water-fowl  in  their  fear- 
less divings,  than  human  beings. 

By  driving  about  the  country  among  the 
peasantry,  at  whose  huts  we  always  stopped  to 
inquire  if  they  had  anything  to  sell,  we  became 
very  well  known  among  them.  I  finally  com- 
menced looking  upon  them  as  a  new  circle  of 
friends  and  acquaintances. 

They  are  an  amiable,  smiling,  innocent  race 
of  people,  utterly  unconscious  of  the  higher 
emotions  of  civilization  save  the  feeling  of 
sympathy  in  misfortune,  which  pervades  all 
classes  of  Mexicans. 

So  universal  is  this  sentiment  that  the  bit- 
terest  enemy,    in   the    hour  of   trouble,    will 


156 

receive  care  and  attention.  The  well  known 
devotion  of  the  Mexican  women  to  the  sick  and 
wounded  of  our  army  during  the  war,  finds  no 
parallel  in  history;  and  their  love,  whether 
for  friend  or  lover,  when  once  kindled,  is  flame 
in  all  but  its  short-livedness. 

This  lovely  trait  of  sympathy  is  evident  in  the 
commonest  intercourse.  Their  overflowing  kind- 
ness of  purpose,  that  shows  itself  in  every 
trifle,  has  left  on  my  memory  an  indelible 
impression  of  kindness  towards  this  innocent, 
warm-hearted  race.  Yet,  mild  and  inoflfen- 
sive  as  they  usually  are,  they  have  enough 
Spanish  blood  left  in  their  veins  to  be  occa- 
sionally roused  to  deeds  of  desperation  and 
bloodshed. 

The  white  complexion  of  an  American  and 
blue  eyes  are  their  beau-ideal  of  beauty,  in 
contrast  to  their  own  dark  skins  and  black 
eyes ;  but  a  negro  they  regard  as  the  climax  of 
loveliness !  The  more  ebon  his  complexion,  the 
woollier  his  locks,  the  more  claim  he  has  on 
their  admiration ! 

On  the  Lower  Rio   Grande  there    are  no 


DAVIS'S   RANCHE.  157 

slaveholders ;  the  close  neighborhood  of  Mexico 
renders  escape  so  easy  that  no  slaves  are  ever 
brought  here.  Our  colored  dependent,  the 
only  specimen  of  his  race  in  these  parts,  was 
very  much  petted  by  the  Mexican  peasant 
women  (who  literally  adore  the  sons  of  Africa) ! 
The  effects  of  this  appreciation  were  soon  visible  ! 
as  I  was  relieved  from  the  somewhat  arduous 
duty  of  directing  frequent  billets  (they  could 
not  be  called  billets-cZ(?wa?,  as  they  were  perfumed 
with  a  professional  odor  of  pepper !)  to  a  certain 
''Miss  .Georgianna,  care  of  Julius  Johnston, 
"White-washer,  Myrtle  Alley,  Brooklyn" !  who 
was  thus  unfeelingly  abandoned  for  the  sake  of  a 
certain  little  sallow,  black-eyed  Ninetta  Garcia. 
I  spoke  to  him  one  day  with  regard  to  his  unfaith- 
fulness as  a  correspondent.  "  I  guess  how's  she 
disremembers  me,  I  ben  gone  so  long"  !  replied 
this  colored  "  man  of  the  world."  E'inetta,  in 
the  excess  of  her  devotion,  paid  frequent  visits 
to  the  garrison,  where,  with  enamored  eyes,  she 
would  stand  at  the  kitchen  door  and  watch  the 
object  of  her  affection  at  his  various  and  nume- 
rous employments,  presuming  that  when  they 


158  DAVIS'S   EANCHE. 

were  ended  he  would  go  to  the  fandango. 
Yery  little  conversation  took  place  between 
them,  and  that  little  in  a  language  called 
"Mex,"  a  kind  of  Spanish  patois,  diifering 
widely  from  pure  Castilian !  This  admira- 
tion for  negroes  somewhat  disgusted  me  with 
the  Mexicans,  for,  in  spite  of  philanthropy, 
Christian  charity,  and  liberal  views,  I  do  not 
believe  that  the  colored  and  white  races  can 
ever  by  any  possibility  amalgamate  to  an 
equality ! 

The  different  degrees  of  instinct  in  different 
races  of  the'  animal  kingdom,  the  different 
degrees  of  beauty  and  utility  in  the  different 
classes  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  seem  a 
sufficient  reason  to  believe  that  these  same  dis- 
tinctions have  been  made  in  the  different  races 
of  the  human  family. 

In  one  of  our  drives  we  stopped  at  the 
ranche  of  an  old  Mexican,  where  we  had 
several  times  before  been  supplied  by  his 
daughter  with  eggs  and  poultry.  He  had 
always  been  away  at  the  chase,  but  on  this 
occasion  we  found   him   at  home  ;    he   came 


159 

out  to  speak  to  "la  donna  Americana"!  who 
his  daughter  said  was  at  the  door. 

I  noticed  that  he  kept  one  of  his  ejes  tightly- 
closed,  which  gave  such  a  droll  and  roguish 
expression  to  his  old  wrinkled  face,  that  I 
could  not  help  laughing,  in  which  (although  not 
knowing  the  cause)  he  heartily  joined,  probably 
from  sympathy! 

I  put  my  finger  on  my  eye,  as  a  sign  to 
ask  him  why  he  kept  it  closed  so  rigidly? 
This  seemed  to  amuse  the  old  fellow  amazingly 
(he  was  past  eighty),  and  in  the  glee  of  second 
childhood  he  had  to  sit  down  to  laugh,  saying, 
when  he  had  recovered  himself  sufficiently  to 
do  so — "Los  Indios,  senorita,  los  Indios;"  mean- 
ing that  his  eye  had  been  shot  out  by  a  Caman- 
che's  arrow — rather  a  serious  joke,  I  thought ! 

His  name  was  "  Chico."  When  quite  a  boy, 
he  had  been  captured  by  the  Indians,  who  took 
him  up  among  them,  picked  out  his  eyebrows, 
shaved  his  head,  and  finally  imbued  him  so 
thoroughly  with  a  taste  for  their  wild  mode  of 
life  that  when  he  was  recaptured  by  the  Mexi- 
cans, some  eighteen  years  afterwards,   he   was 


160 

quite  loth  to  remain  among  them.  But  finally 
a  Mexican  wife,  and  several  little  saffron- 
colored  "Bambinos,"  reconciled  him  to  his  own 
people. 


CHAPTER  XY. 


FKONTIEK   PIETY,    ETC. 


Theee  are  but  few  religious  observances  kept 
in  this  part  of  the  world.  If  any  Divine  influ- 
ence prevails  it  is  through  the  instrumentality 
of  the  Koman  church.  On  the  anniversary  of 
"  All  Saints'  Day,"  we  met  a  curious  procession 
in  the  streets  of  Rio  Grande  City,  carrying 
bright-colored  banners  and  flags,  followed  by 
two  men  bearing  a  long  pole,  on  which  were 
strung  a  number  of  wooden  dolls,  dressed  in  a 
most  grotesque  manner,  wearing  turbans  orna- 
mented with  mangy  feathers,  evidently  lately 
purloined  from  some  unfortunate  chicken's  tail ! 
These  "graven  images"  represented  the  difi'er- 
ent  patron  saints  of  Mexico.  Two  musicians 
came  after  them,  one  with  a  drum,  and  another 
with  a  squeaking  fiddle,  playing  jigs  and  other 
lively  airs,  probably  intended  to  promote  reli- 


162  FRONTIER   PIETY,   ETC. 

gious  entliiisiaam !  The  rear  was  brought  up  by 
a  mongrel  crowd  of  Mexican  women,  babies,  In- 
dia-rubber or  no-haired  dogs,  and  dirty  children, 
who  were  thus  receiving  their  earli-est  religious 
impressions !  In  spite  of  its  absurdity  the  sight 
was  truly  pitiful. 

There  was  a  current,  and  generally  believed 
report,  that  the  postmaster  of  Rio  Grande  City 
was  a  good  Baptist,  the  only  man  in  the  set- 
tlement who  owned  a  Bible,  in  consequence 
of  which  he  had  acquired  the  familiar  cogno- 
men of  "  Bible-back,"  a  name  that  he  stoutly 
resented!  He  said  the  Bible  belonged  to  his 
wife  ;  but  he  had  a  brother  in  IS'orthern 
Texas  who  had  ''got  religion  and  done  well^'* 
and  he  thought  "  some "  of  "  getting  it " 
himself! 

An  Episcopal  clergyman  once  came  up  the 
river  as  far  as  this  point  and  preached.  He  had 
an  overflowing  audience,  who  complained  that 
he  did  not  give  them  enough  "  howling" — mean- 
ing a  series  of  fearful  denunciations  that  would 
serve  to  rouse  the  necessary  degree  of  religious 
excitement ! 


FRONTIER   PIETY,    ETC.  163 

It  is  undoubtedly  tlie  case  that  the  Metho- 
dists are  more  successful  than  any  other  sect  in 
this  kind  of  communities.  They  seem  to  adapt 
themselves  better  to  their  capacities,  which 
may  be  accounted  for  by  their  being  a  less 
highly  educated  class  of  men  than  those  of  the 
Episcopal  church,  and  assimilating  better  with 
the  ordinary  mind  in  consequence. 

It  is  a  peculiar  fact,  and  one  worthy  of  notice, 
that  since  Texas  has  become  a  State  the  Episco- 
pal church  has  looked  in  vain  for  a  man  to  fill 
the  bishopric,  while  in  every  portion  of  this 
country  there  is  more  need  of  good  influence 
than  in  any  of  those  lands  where  vain  endeavors 
and  enormous  sums  of  money  are  annually  ex- 
pended on  barbaric  tribes  who  have  but  little  in- 
tellect to  cultivate,  and  who  generally  evince  their 
gratitude  for  religious  instruction  by  eating  their 
instructors  !  The  pearls  which  are  injudiciously 
thrown  before  swine  to  be  trampled  upon,  in  ig- 
norance of  their  beauty  and  value,  others  might 
keenly  appreciate,  and  carefully  string  and  wear 
as  an  adornment.  In  Texas  there  are  hundreds 
of  intelligent  human  souls  ripe  for  instruction . 


1C4  FRONTIER   PIETY,   ETC. 

The  heroic  examples  of  old  seem  to  have  no 
power  to  inspire  those  who  look  upon  their  com- 
mission in  the  ranks  of  God's  service  as  a  worldly 
profession,  and  calculate  the  income  it  will  yield  ! 
forgetting  the  glorious  example  of  John,  who 
preached  in  the  wilderness,  clothed  in  camel's 
hair,  with  wild  honey  for  his  food.  There 
is  a  wilderness  now  as  then  to  preach  in,  with 
the  finest  wild-cat  skins,  and  wdld  honey  like 
ambrosia ! 

Ever^;^  one  has  his  destined  vocation.  I  do 
not  censure  the  old  established  veterans  in  "  the 
army  of  the  blest,"  who  are  needed  where  they 
are,  but  the  young  aspirants  who,  to  use  the 
technical  expression,  are  waiting  for  "  a  call" — 
they  have  no  need  to  wait — a  call  from  heaven 
awaits  them — let  them  listen !  It  is  very  easy  to 
know  and  preach  the  right  course ;  but,  I  sup- 
pose, it  is  not  so  easy  to  acquire  the  necessary 
strength  of  mind  to  adopt  it  and  go  to  Texas 
for  life.  Human  nature  is  so  continually  at  war 
with  the  divine  instinct,  that  all  of  us  (divinity 
students  included)  have  constantly  to  contend 
against  those  outside  influences  which  too  often 


FKONTIEK    PIETY,    ETC.  165 

turn  the  scale.     As  Spenser  said  t(vo  hundred 
years  ago : 

"  Aye  me,  how  many  perils  doe  enfold 
The  righteous  man,  to  make  him  daily  falL" 

Although  principle  may  at  times  have  due 
weight,  yet  circumstances  generally  make  the 
villain  or  the  saint,  which  may  account  for 
the  fact  of  Texas  being  comparatively  deserted 
by  the  professed  soldiers  of  the  Lord. 

Just  at  the  rear  of  Davis's  ranche,  backed 
by  a  high  sandy  ridge,  there  was  a  long  low 
adobe  hut.  It  had  a  door  in  the  centre,  and 
two  small  grated  windows  placed  near  the  roof. 
It  was  the  jail  or  city  prison.  We  had  occa- 
sion once  to  seek  a  person  in  its  vicinity; 
meeting  there  an  acquaintance,  "  one  in  autho- 
rity," I  begged  that  we  might  go  inside  to  see 
what  was  in  there.  I  never  made  even  an  un- 
reasonable request  in  vain  in  Texas,  where  the 
men  are  so  gallant,  and  my  wish  was  soon 
granted.  We  entered  the  central  apartment,  a 
kind  of  square  hall,  lighted  frorti  a  window  in 
the  rear,  which  was  occupied  by  the  jailor;  two 


166  FRONTIER   PIETY,    ETC. 

other  apartments  opened  from  it  on  either  side, 
whicli  formed  the  cells  for  the  prisoners.  Both 
were  occupied.  In  one  was  a  Mexican,  a  me- 
lancholy-looking youth,  sitting  on  a  stone  bench, 
his  head  resting  on  his  hands,  his  dishevelled 
locks  and  sad  eyes  the  personification  of  mild 
despair.  Looking  upon  him  as  a  physiognomist, 
I  should  have  judged  him  to  be  a  person  ot 
sweet  disposition  and  quite  inoffensive.  But 
appearances  are  generally  deceitful,  and  in  this 
case  they  certainly  were.  He  had  performed  a 
prominent  part  quite  recently  in  a  real  tra- 
gedy- 

He  and  a  companion  had  been  fellow-travel- 
lers from  Koma,  a  town  a  few  miles  off.  Feel- 
ing sanguinary  during  the  night,  on  account  of 
some  dispute  relative  to  the*  dried  beef  they 
were  bringing  with  them  to  Eio  Grande  City  to 
sell,  he,  Jael-like,  had  driven  a  butcher's  knife 
into  his  friend's  head,  leaving  it  there  as  a  token 
of  the  strength  of  his  feelings  towards  him !  and 
went  on  with  his  merchandise  alone. 

A  party  of  merchants  coming  the  same  road 
a  few  hours  after,  discovered  the  body  and  se- 


^      FRONTIER   PIETY,    ETC.  167 

cured  the  murderer,  and  he  was  here  awaiting 
his  sentence  and  final  doom. 

After  hearing  this  story  I  began  to  discover 
(with  the  eye  of  a  physiognomist !)  a  doggedly 
wicked  look  of  cruelty  about  him,  and  my  pity 
vanished  with  it. 

In  the  other  cell  there  was  a  person  of  a  very 
different  description.  He  was  a  fine  intelligent- 
looking  American,  who  on  "  a  spree"  had  killed 
another  man.  He  said  that  since  the  morning 
he  had  awaked  to  find  himself  a  murderer,  he 
had  felt  that  he  could  never  raise  his  head 
again.  While  my  companions  were  in  the  oppo- 
site cell,  I  had  a  chance  to  hear  all  his  woes  in 
detail,  and  how  dear  life  now  appeared  to  him 
from  the  threshold  of  the  grave,  &c.  &c.  He 
was  a  most  interesting  specimen  of  a  criminal. 
I  suggested  to  him  a  way  to  escape  by  tearing 
down  a  fallible  part  of  the  opposite  wall,  and 
as  we  left  wished  him  success  in  his  efforts,  in 
the  face  of  the  officials,  who,  much  to  my  dis- 
gust, instead  of  sternly  trying  to  silence  me, 
smiled  good-naturedly. 

That  night  Eacchus  offered  temptations  to  the 


168  A   GK  AVE  YARD. 

jailor,  to  wliicli,  as  many  a  good  man  has  done 
before  and  since,  he  yielded,  and  my  quondam 
friend  escaped,  to  my  great  satisfaction  and  de- 
light. 

The  graveyard  at  Einggold  Barracks  was  a 
sad  and  melancholy  spot.  Long  dismal  rows  of 
graves  of  victims  of  cholera  and  massacre,  with 
only  a  small  numbered  stick  to  mark  each  grave, 
the  name  of  its  occupant  alone  to  be  discovered 
by  referring  to  the  record  book  of  the  hospital. 

These  graves,  in  spite  of  all  care  and  precau- 
tion, could  not  be  protected  from  the  ravages  of 
wild  beasts,  principally  herds  of  "  cayote"  or 
small  wolves,  who,  fierce  and  bloody,  and  urged 
by  ravenous  hunger,  continually  prowled  around 
the  garrison  at  night.  Their  dismal  bowlings 
sounded  like  the  moaning  of  the  sea  waves,  and 
lulled  me  to  sleep  every  night  during  our  stay 
in  Texas. 

These  forsaken  graves  were  principally  those 
of  soldiers  from  the  ranks ;  but  among  them 
were  those  of  two  gallant  officers,  marked  alone 
by  a  wooden  cross,  with  the  initials  of  their 
name  and  the  date  of  their  death.     One  had 


A   GRAVEYARD.  169 

died  homeward  bound,  on  his  route  from  Cali- 
fornia ;  the  other  had  been  drowned  in  the 
Rio  Grande,  seized  with  a  vertigo  while  bath- 
ing. 

In  one  corner  of  this  desolate  inclosure  was 
the  grave  of  a  little  child,  only  a  year  old,  who 
had  been  buried  here  till  the  proper  time  of 
removal  came.  Different  specimens  of  the  cac- 
tus were  planted  carefully  around  it,  where  it  lay 
by  itself  apart  from  the  rest. 

I  often  walked  that  way,  and  felt  the  deepest 
sympathy  for  the  mother  far  away,  who  had 
been  forced  to  go  and  leave  her  baby  in  this 
wretched  place.  As  I  looked  at  the  little  lonely 
grave,  which  even  the  wild  beasts  seemed  to 
respect,  for  they  left  it  unmolested,  in  the  wil- 
derness among  the  remains  of  murdered  men, 
I  felt  the  tenderest  interest  in  the  spot. 

Unfitting  resting-place  for  a  little  child.  Yet 
there  was  another  little  grave  beside  it  when 
I  came  away. 

8 


ITO  A  GRAVEYARD. 

"We  half  forget 
How  sunder  human  ties, 

"When  round  the  silent  place  of  rest 
A  gathered  kindred  lies. 

"The  place  is  purified  with  hope, 

The  hope  that  is  of  prayer  ; 
And  human  love  and  heavenward  thought^ 

And  trusting  faith  are  there. 
The  wild  flowers  spring  amid  the  grass. 

And  many  a  stone  appears, 
Carved  by  affection's  memory, 

"Wet  with  affection's  tears. 

•*  The  golden  cord  which  binds  us  all 
Is  loosed,  not  rent  in  twam  ; 
And  love  and  hope  and  fear  unite 
To  bring  the  past  again. 
But  this  grave  was  so  desolate 
With  no  remembering  stone." 


CHAPTEE  XYI. 

"the  army." 

"  Come  fill  your  glasses,  fellows,  and  stand  up  in  a  row  1 
For  to  sentimental  drinking  we're  a  going  for  to  go ! 

*♦*'****»•        « 
May  the  army  be  augmented — may  promotion  be  less  slow, 
May  our  country  in  the  hour  of  peace  be  ready  for  the  foe ; 
Award  each  state  a  regiment  of  regulars  who  know 
Their  officers  were  chosen  chums  of  Benny  Havens,  01"* 

Old  West  Point  Song. 

One  morning  there  was  quite  a  stir  in  camp. 
General  Harney  (that  prince  of  dragoons)  hear- 

*  "  Benny  Havens  "  was  the  keeper  of  a  small  drinking-house 
just  outside  the  limits  of  the  U.  S.  jurisdiction  at  "West  Point. 
This  house  was  the  scene  of  many  glorious  "sprees,"  whose 
utter  abandon  would  be  quite  wonderful  to  citizens.  Of  course 
they  were  indulged  in  under  the  most  dreadful  penalty  from 
head-quarters,  but  in  proportion  to  the  penalty  was  the  sup- 
posed manliness  and  nerve  of  the  proceeding.  "  Benny  "  was  a 
supreme  favorite  in  the  corps,  and  his  bad  liquor  was  ambrosia 
to  his  guests. 


172  "  THE   AKMY." 

ing  rumors  of  numerous  filibuster  and  Indian 
troubles,  had  come  down  from  Northern  Texas, 
to  administer  ^'jesse'^^  generally  to  all  delin- 
quents, and  let  the  community  at  large  feel 
that  he  was  "  ahoutP 

Even  in  these  wild  regions  the  dragoons  rode 
into  camp  in  full  equipment,  on  prancing  horses, 
with  their  carbines  and  sabres  glistening  in  the 
early  morning  sunlight,  apparently  just  ready 
for  inspection. 

A  more  dashing,  well  drilled  set  of  men,  it  is 
the  pride  of  their  commanding  officer  to  know, 
does  not  exist. 

While  at  Ringgold  Barracks,  some  Mexican 
officers  from  Camargo  crossed  the  river  to  pay 
General  Harney  a  visit  of  state;  they  dis- 
mounted and  left  their  horses  at  the  door  of  the 
commanding  officer's  quarters,  in  charge  of 
their  orderlies,  who  had  accompanied  them. 
These  latter,  tempted  by  the  ofiered  hospitality 
of  the  soldiers'  mess-room,  left  their  charge  for 
a  while.  "When  the  distinguished  guests  came 
to  depart,  they  found  that  the  silver-mounted 
pistols,  that  they  had  left  in  the  holsters  of  their 


173 

saddles,  Lad  disappeared,  much  to  the  chagrin 
of  our  officers,  whose  sense  of  hospitality  and 
honor  were  very  much  annoyed  by  the  trans- 
action. The  next  morning  the  thief  was  dis- 
covered among  the  newly  arrived  dragoons. 
I  saw  the  meeting  between  him  and  Gene- 
ral Harney,  who  stood  on  the  piazza.  He 
seized  the  culprit  by  the  nape  of  the  neck,  like 
a  kitten,  and.  administered  a  good  shaking  and 
moral  lecture  combined,  the  former  probably 
by  far  the  most  effective ! 

He  was  (as  may  be  imagined  by  this  fact)  a 
man  of  tremendous  physique,  and  strong  im- 
petuous passions,  yet  tender-hearted  in  the  ex- 
treme towards  children  or  animals.  As  I  heard 
a  Texan  remark,  he  was  "  one  of  your  high 
flung  fellers." 

This  same  high  flung  or  high  toned  spirit  is 
the  pei-vading  trait  of  our  army.  Mean-spirited 
men  are  the  rare  exceptions.  The  cadet  breathes 
it  in  with  the  air  of  his  Alma  Mater,  and  so 
strong  is  its  influence,  that  tlirough  life  it  guides 
his  course  with  straightforward  integrity. 

On  another  occasion  General  Whiting,  another 


174 

specimen  of  our  brave  officers,  visited  us  on  a 
general  tour  of  inspection  throughout  Texas. 
He  was  a  polished  gentleman  of  the  old  school ; 
bland,  courteous,  and  possessed  of  an  affability 
that  made  him  extremely  popular.  He  seemed 
a  man  who  would  meet  the  most  startling  emer- 
gency calmly,  yet  with  undaunted  courage. 

The  "stuff"  that  forms  our  army  is  of  the 
noblest  kind.  How  illiberal  are  the  murmurs 
at  the  expenditure  that  provides  such  a  bulwark 
of  strength  to  guard  our  outposts. 

Little  does  the  casual  observer  at  West  Point 
know  of  the  after  existence  of  its  graduates,  and 
their  lives  of  exile  and  privation  on  the  frontier, 
passed  in  lonely  seclusion  from  the  world,  a 
stranger  to  its  luxuries,  almost  a  stranger  to 
the  ordinary  comforts  of  civilization. 

In  our  populous  cities,  where  the  refinements 
of  life  are  easily  attained,  the  officers  of  the 
ai*my  are  seldom  met.  The  wild  deer,  and  red 
men  of  the  prairie,  are  more  familiar  to  them 
than  are  the  people  of  their  own  race.  Their 
lives  are  too  often  yielded  in  some  ignoble 
border  skirmish,  sacrificed  ingloriously  to  their 


175 

country,  leaving  a  nameless  grave  on  some  dis- 
tant, unfrequented  spot. 

The  small  detachments  which  are  scattered 
along  our  vast  frontier,  make  up  in  bravery 
what  they  lack  in  numbers ;  always  ready,  at  a 
moment's  warning,  to  repel  the  attacks  of  the 
savages,  or  to  pursue  and  punish  their  predatory 
bands. 

Wherever  the  adventurous  pioneer  erects  his 
cabin,  they  are  there  to  protect  him  in  it^  pos- 
session. Days  of  weary  marching,  nights  of 
sleepless  watching,  whether  in  the  sierras  of  the 
North,  the  prairies  of  the  West,  or  the  savannahs 
of  the  South,  their  lives  are  always  the  same. 
Like  a  chain  of  sentinels,  their  insufficient  garri- 
sons are  stretched  from  the  south-east  to  the 
extreme  north-west;  the  reveille  waking  loud 
echoes  on  the  rock-bound  shores  of  Oregon, 
while  the  tattoo  softly  murmurs  through  the 
orange  groves  of  Florida. 


CHAPTEK  xyn. 


CAMARGO. 


The  occasion  of  a  great  national  fair  which  was 
annually  held  at  Camargo,  an  ancient  Mexican 
town  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  directly  op- 
posite Rio  Grande  City,  afforded  an  excellent 
occasion  for  visiting  that  place,  as  these  fairs 
bring  together  a  large  number  of  Mexicans,  with 
the  peculiar  productions  of  the  different  sections 
of  the  country.  Having  been  duly  provided 
with  passports,  embellished  with  the  usual  flour- 
ishes of  the  pen  inseparable  from  all  Mexican 
official  documents,  we  crossed  the  river,  wagon 
and  all,  by  a  rope  ferry,  in  a  rather  rickety  and 
diminutive  old  scow. 

We  were  received,  on  landing,  by  some  dirty, 
half  clothed  soldiers,  placed  there  by  the  custom- 
house officials,  to  see  that  no  goods  were  brought 
into  the  country  without  paying  duty.    As  these 


CAMAKGO.  1Y7 

worthies  made  it  a  matter  of  conscience  to  steal 
only  two  thirds  of  all  that  they  received,  they 
were  of  course  very  vigilant !  They  looked  care- 
lessly at  our  passports,  and  we  went  on  our  way 
unmolested. 

The  city  lay  three  miles  from  the  shore.  The 
drive  to  it  was  delightful,  through  a  kind  of  lane, 
lined  on  either  side  with  low  flowering  shrubs 
and  brushwood.  Sweet-scented  flowers  covered 
the  ground,  and  vines  clambered  on  each  bush 
and  scrubby,  stunted  tree.  Their  fragrance  on 
the  softened  air  was  at  times  almost  overpow- 
ering : — 

"  Close  fondled  by  the  impassioned  wind, 
Their  perfume  came  and  went  upon  the  sense 
Like  faint  waves  on  a  shore." 

On  our  way  we  passed  many  parties  going 

to     Camargo.       Mexican    girls,    riding    on    a 

mule's  back,  in  full  holiday  dress  of  a  short, 

bright  petticoat,  falling  in  ample  folds,  a  white 

chemisette  and  dark  corsage,  with  the  graceful 

rebosa.      They  had  bright,   expressive    faces; 

but  their  complexions  were  generally  dark  and 
8* 


178  CAMARGO. 

coarse,  wliicli  destroyed  that  appearance  of  re- 
finement so  essential  to  a  beauty  that  can  inspire 
a  cultivated  taste  with  admiration.  The  men 
rode  on  mules.  Frequently  a  woman  was  seat- 
ed on  a  pillion  behind  them,  carrying  a  bambino 
for  the  priest  to  christen  at  Camargo. 

At  length  a  turn  in  the  road  brought  us  in 
sight  of  the  town.  The  round  stone  tower  of  the 
quaint  old  cathedral,  surmounted  by  a  belfry 
and  a  massive  stone  cross,  seemed  to  terminate 
the  road. 

On  the  immediate  outskirts  of  the  town  lies  a 
burial  ground,  which  has  been  there  for  centu- 
ries. It  is  surrounded  by  a  high,  ungainly-look- 
ing brick  wall,  with  a  singularly  colossal  mas- 
sive gateway  in  the  Alhambric  style. 

There  are  traces  of  great  former  splendor  dis- 
cernible everywhere  in  Camargo,  which  was 
formerly  a  place  of  considerable  consequence, 
but  of  late  years  has  been  falling  into  a  state  of 
dilapidation.  Most  of  the  houses  are  built  of 
Btone,  always  but  one  story  high,  with  flat  roofs, 
and  the  whole  place  is  as  un-American  in  its  ap- 
pearance, both  as  regards  the  architecture  of  its 


CAMARGO.  1Y9 

buildings  and  the  character  of  its  inhabitants,  as 
it  would  be  possible  to  imagine. 

A  quadrangular  plaza,  faced  by  dilapidated 
stone  buildings,  centuries  old,  forms  a  centre 
from  which  diverge  a  series  of  streets,  with  pro- 
miscuous houses,  some  of  logs,  or  adobes,  with 
thatched  roofs,  and  some  mere  shelters  from  the 
sun,  that  a  summer  wind  might  destroy.  A  few 
of  the  houses  still  bear  traces  of  fresco  on  their 
exteriors,  and  many  of  elaborate  stone  carving, 
while  the  doors  and  windows  are  heavily  bar- 
red, like  those  of  Havana,  giving  a  gloomy, 
prison-like  aspect  to  the  city. 

This  precaution  is  taken  that  the  whole  house 
may  be  thrown  open  and  yet  protected.  It 
gives  the  inhabitants  a  very  small  share  of  pri- 
vacy, and  a  stranger  walking  through  the  streets 
gets  quite  an  insight  into  their  inner  life. 

We  went  inside  of  the  cathedral,  an  anti- 
quated pile  falling  rapidly  into  decay,  where 
the  priest  (an  outrageous  old  sinner)  daily  mum- 
bles a  Latin  mass  to  a  superstitious,  ignorant 
audience,  who  regard  even  his  most  flagrant  sins 
with  pious  reverence. 


180  CAMAEGO. 

There  was  but  one  long,  narrow  aisle,  and  two 
transepts,  forming  a  cross,  and  a  high  altar,  with 
low  shrines  on  either  side  ;  one  to  that  once 
erring  saint,  Peter,  and  the  other  inscribed  to 
the  Queen  of  Heaven — some  wax  figures,  larger 
than  life,  of  the  Crucifixion,  the  Virgin,  and 
several  of  the  Apostles,  formed  one  of  the  most 
fearful  and  unnatural  groups  the  imagination 
can  picture.  There  was  one  very  old  and  very 
lovely  picture  in  the  church,  in  the  rich  deep 
coloring  of  the  Spanish  school,  representing  the 
sweet  face  of  Mary  with  the  child,  in  which — 

"The  maid  mother,  by  a  crucifix, 
In  tracts  of  pasture,  sunny  warm, 
Sat  smiling — ^babe  in  arms.' 

While  we  were  in  the  cathedral  a  Texan  whom 
we  knew,  and  who  resided  in  Camargo,  came  in 
search  of  us,  bringing  an  invitation  from  some 
Spanish  ladies,  with  their  compliments,  and 
hopes  that  we  would  pass  the  time  we  were  in 
Camargo  under  their  roof.  I  was  quite  anxious 
to  see  a  specimen  of  high  life  in  Mexico,  in  con- 
trast with  the  peasant  life,  of  which  I  had  seen 
BO  much,  and  accepted  their  invitation. 


CAMARGO.  181 

Following  our  conductor,  we  soon  found  our- 
selves in  an  old  dilapidated  stone  porcli,  its  many 
traces  of  former  beauty  fast  crumbling  away, 
vanishing  among  "  the*  things  that  were." 

The  family  came  out  with  a  warm  welcome  to 
meet  us,  and  we  were  ushered  into  a  large,  cool, 
airy  drawing-room,  off  the  front  door,  adorned 
with  pictures,  and  leading  into  a  dining-room  in 
the  rear,  which  was  paved  with  stone  tiles,  the 
back  of  the  room  opening  with  a  large  arched 
way  into  a  yard  and  garden  in  the  rear,  where 
ruined  fountains  and  stone  benches  showed  that 
there  had  once  been  extensive  and  tasteful  plea- 
sure grounds.  A  cool  breeze  swept  through  the 
half  darkened  rooms,  giving  a  very  refreshing 
feeling  of  repose  after  our  somewhat  warm 
drive. 

The  eldest  sister  of  the  family,  named  Dolores, 
had  lost  her  husband  a  year  before  from  the 
cholera,  at  the  same  time  with  her  father  and 
mother,  and  she  with  her  two  younger  sisters 
had  been  left  under  the  care  of  an  elder  brother, 
in  possession  of  the  family  house.  She  was  a 
widow — but  not  one  of  those  disconsolate  and 


182  CAMARGO. 

irreparably  bereaved  kind,  who  look  upon  the 
remainder  of  their  lives  as  a  state  of  probation. 
On  the  contrary,  her  eyes  literally  glowed  with 
showers  of  smiles  and  animation,  and  her  rich 
dark  hair  was  plaited  in  massive  braids  on  either 
side  of  her  face,  in  the  most  coquettish  manner 
possible.  She  was  not  five-and-twenty,  and  they 
said  her  husband  had  been  "  a  brute  I"  Some  old 
play  says  "  all  married  women's  husbands  are 
brutes !"  but  the  play  is  a  comedy,  and  they 
sometimes  exaggerate.  She  was  beautiful,  and 
had  what  the  world  technically  calls  "  a  favored 
suitor."  Who  could  blame  her  if  after  a  year's 
mourning  she  smiled  coquettishly  ? 

Considering  the  serious  drawback  of  my  speak- 
ing very  bad  Spanish,  and  she  speaking  very 
bad  French,  our  conversation  was  remarkably 
animated,  continuous,  and  even  philosophical ! 
I  quite  agreed  with  her  that  the  most  absurd 
thing  a  young  and  charming  widow  could  do, 
was  to  barter  a  self-created  chain  of  roses  for 
the  iron  links  of  Hymen. 

The  two  younger  sisters,  Inanita  and  Antoi- 
netta,  and  a  staid  elderly  brother,  formed  the 


CAMARGO.  183 

family.  These  former  were  not  as  decidedly 
handsome  or  as  decidedly  intelligent  as  Dolores, 
although  rather  in  her  style,  but  as  they  were 
both  redolent  of  "bread  and  butter,"  it  was 
hardly  fair  to  judge  prematurely  of  their  attrac- 
tions ;  that  bouquet  must  have  entirely  vanished, 
before  the  fascinations  can  fully  develope  them- 
selves. When  dinner  was  announced  I  was 
handed  with  no  little  ceremony,  by  Don  Jesu, 
into  the  dining-room,  which  opened  on  the  gar- 
den in  the  rear,  through  a  stone  archway.  Simi- 
lar arches  on  either  side  opened,  on  the  one 
hand,  into  a  long  low  kitchen,  and  on  the  other 
into  the  carriage-house,  where  stood  the  massive 
family  coach,  covered  with  brass  mountings  and 
armorial  bearings,  but  which  was  seldom  used,  as 
their  means  could  not  supply  the  necessary 
horses  and  men.  The  coach,  however,  remained 
a  relic  of  the  departed  glories  of  their  line,  and 
was  preserved  with  almost  religious  care.  It 
seems  impossible  to  entirely  eradicate  the 
old  Castilian  pride  of  blood.  In  all  the  bet- 
ter class  of  houses,  both  here  and  in  Havana, 
the  room  for  the  carriage  is  in  close  vicinity  to 


184:  CAMARGO. 

other  suites  of  apartments.  In  it  the  family  pets 
generally  find  a  home.  This  one  was  full  of 
wicker-work  cages  of  strange  and  beautiful 
birds,  orioles  and  mocking-birds,  those  "  nightin- 
gales of  the  south."  Several  fearful,  unnatural- 
looking,  but  highly  prized  ducks,  roamed  tamely 
at  large,  and  often  found  their  way  in  very  un- 
comfortably close  vicinity  to  the  feet  of  an  un- 
suspecting guest.  A  tame  stork  with  a  very 
vicious  face,  tied  by  the  leg,  made  me  fearfully 
nervous  that  he  might  escape  from  restraint. 
A  beautiful  little  paroquet,  pea-green,  with  a 
crimson  top-knot  and  very  knowing  eyes,  kept 
repeating  his  own  praises  continually,  in  every 
mood  and  tone  peculiar  to  that  conceited  and  self- 
appreciating  race  of  birds.  A  tame  fawn  exqui- 
sitely small  and  beautiful,  and  a  glass  basin  of 
gold  fish,  completed  this  zoological  list.  The 
Mexican  women  are  very  fond  of  pets,  especially 
a  race  of  dogs,  that  are  jet  black,  without  any. 
hair.  They  seem  to  be  made  of  black  india-rubber, 
and  are  anything  but  beautiful,  although  they 
are  cherished  with  the  greatest  fondness  by 
their  mistresses,  who   manufacture  a  peculiar 


CAMARGO.  185 

kind  of  soft  wool  cushion,  of  various  shades  of 
bright  colors,  for  them  to  lie  on.  The  Chihuahua 
dogs  are  rare,  even  here  in  such  close  vicinity 
to -Mexico,  but  they  are  in  great  demand,  on  ac- 
count of  their  beauty.  They  are  less  than  a  foot 
long,  and  six  or  eight  inches  high,  looking  as  if 
they  might  have  been  imported  by  Gulliver,  on 
his  return  from  the  kingdom  of  Lilliput. 

The  dinner  was  of  a  most  peculiar  description, 
to  a  person  unused  to  Mexican  customs  and  habits 
of  life.  It  commenced  with  a  compound  of  leeks, 
onions,  and  red  peppers,  a  kind  of  soup,  of 
which  the  smell  was  sufficient  for  one  course. 
A  pyramid  of  spun  sugar,  flanked  by  two  mas- 
sive silver  flagons  of  vin  ordinaire,  ornamented 
the  centre  of  the  table.  The  rest  of  the  table 
equipage  was  plain  and  American.  The  second 
course  was  formed  of  a  large  dish  of  beef  and 
mutton  stewed  together,  and  small  apples  and 
peaches  stewed  whole  with  it.  These  were 
piled  in  the  centre  with  an  embankment  of 
mashed  yellow  turnips  surrounding  it.  I  was 
getting  dreadfully  nervous,  for  fear  the  dinner 
might  pass  without  mv  sense  of  courtesy  fore- 


186  CAMAEGO. 

ing  me  to  taste  even  a  mouthful  of  che  extraor* 
dinary  viands  of  semi-barbaric  food.  A  dish  of 
frijoles  at  length  appeared,  and  caused  a  deep 
sigh  of  relief  on  my  part.  Chickens,  with  rice, 
sugar,  and  pepper,  all  boiled  up  together,  regard- 
less of  small  feathers,  followed,  and  then  came 
the  dessert,  dulcies  of  candied  cactus  and 
melons,  made  by  the  Senoritas  themselves, 
which  were  really  beautiful,  a  bright  green,  cov- 
ered with  a  coat  of  crystallized  sugar.  A  peon  or 
slave  stood  behind  each  chair,  besides  several 
extra  ones,  whose  duty  it  was  to  go  to  the 
kitchen,  where  two  women  on  their  knees  were 
rolling  and  baking  tortillas  as  rapidly  as  they 
could,  which  the  attendants  took  hot  from  the 
fire,  on  the  palms  of  their  disagreeable  looking 
hands,  and  bringing  them  to  the  table,  would 
literally  flaj^  them  (vide  Johnson)  down  on  the 
cloths  beside  every  one's  plate.  These  are  used 
in  the  place  of  bread ;  they  are  made  of  ground 
or  crushed  corn,  and  are  baked  in  large  flat 
cakes  the  size  of  sea-biscuit,  on  a  peculiar  kind 
of  broad,  open  oven,  which  article,  it  is  a  singular 
fact,  is  manufactured  for  the  Mexican  market 


CAMAKGO.  187 

in  the  city  of  New  York.  The  tortillas  seem 
quite  tasteless  and  unpalatable  to  a  person  un- 
used to  them,  but  are  very  generally  used  by  all 
classes  of  Mexicans.  It  is  very  amusing  to 
watch  the  women  on  their  knees  rolling  out 
the  dough  on  a  wooden  tray,  and  then  baking 
them. 

After  dinner  and  cafe,  noir  came  the  cigars 
and  cigaritos.  Dolores  offered  to  initiate  me 
into  the  universal  custom  in  the  country  of  smok- 
ing, with  many  jokes  at  my  being  so  aufait  for 
a  novice,  such  an  apt  scholar,  &c.,  &c. 

I  had  heard  a  great  deal  of  the  grace  with 
which  these  donnas  handled  their  cigaritos,  but 
as  I  had  seen  a  lionne  or  two  during  my 
few  brief  summers,  I  thought  that,  compara- 
tively speaking,  they  had  been  very  much 
overrated. 

Dolores  took  me  to  her  cTiainbre  ct  coucher^ 
and  showed  me  many  of  her  treasures,  books, 
pictures,  and  embroideries,  all  of  which  displayed 
refinement  of  taste  and  a  higher  culture  than  is 
generally  found  in  a  place  where  there  are  so 
few  advantages  of  education  to  profit  by.    They 


188  OAMAEGO. 

had  over  a  dozen  peons  or  slaves,  whose  prin- 
cipal business  seemed  to  be  to  lie  around  idle, 
without  any  effort  at  occupying  themselves  more 
than  was  absolutely  necessary.  One  of  them,  a 
girl  of  about  eighteen,  had  never  seen  an  Ame- 
rican woman  before,  and  got  into  raptures  over 
even  so  humble  a  specimen  of  them  as  myself, 
saying:  ^' Gomohella !  comohlanca P^  (how beauti- 
ful !  how  white  !)  All  the  peons  crowded  around 
at  her  exclamations,  to  look  at  the  ^'Senorita 
hlanca^''  and  finally  the  girl  could  restrain  her 
feelings  of  intense  admiration  no  longer,  but 
after  patting  and  stroking  my  hands,  saying  they 
had  never  rolled  tortillas  (a  fact  w^hich  I  did  not 
deny),  she  gave  me  a  sudden  and  overpowering 
hug,  which  entirely  took  away  my  breath. 
Eatlier  a  familiar  and  disgusting  evidence  of 
admiration !  Another  peon,  a  withered  old 
crone,  almost  bent  in  two  with  age,  sat  rocking 
herself  backwards  and  forwards  on  a  stone  bench 
in  the  garden.  They  told  me  she  was  insane, 
and  had  been  so  for  more  than  fifty  years, 
having  at  that  far  off  period  been  crossed  in 
love  by  an  officer  from  the  city  of  Mexico,  who, 


CAMARGO.  180 

it  seems,  like  tlie  "false  young  knight"  of  old, 
"  had  loved  and  then  rode  away." 

This  o_d  and  lovelorn  damsel  had,  since  her 
wits  had  taken  leave  of  her,  lived  on  the  public, 
owning  no  one  place  for  a  home,  and  yet  for  over 
fifty  years  she  had  been  well  clothed,  well  fed, 
and  sheltered,  although  there  were  no  insane 
asylum  funds  or  taxes — speaking  well  for  the 
humanity  of  the  inhabitants  of  Camargo. 

Except  the  many  booths  where  ordinary 
American  trifles  and  merchandise  were  sold,  and 
an  extra  crowd  of  loungers  in  the  streets,  we  saw 
no  evidence  of  the  great  national  fair.  We 
found  we  had  arrived  literally  "a  day  too  late 
for  the  fair."  It  had  been  held  for  the  past 
week,  and  the  merchants  and  visitors  were  now 
separating  for  their  different  homes.  The  last 
of  the  bull-fights  (to  my  everlasting  regret)  had 
taken  place  the  night  before.  That  evening 
there  was  to  be  a  ball  and  fireworks,  as  a  "  wind 
up"  to  this  festal  season.  The  fireworks  of 
Mexico  are  famous  for  their  beauty  ;  those  made 
by  Europeans  and  Americans  cannot  be  com- 
pared to  them.     Dolores  entreated  us  to  stay  at 


190  CAMARGO. 

their  house  all  night,  but  that  being  impossible, 
we  bade  them  a  cordial,  almost  an  affectionate, 
adieu,  with  promises  of  a  speedy  reciprocation 
of  my  visit  on  their  part. 

Circumstances  which  closely  followed,  induced 
them  to  leave  Camargo  and  take  up  their  per- 
manent residence  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  thus 
effectually  preventing  our  meeting  again. 


CHAPTEE  XYin. 


FILIBirSTERmG. 


As  Cliristmas  approaclied,  rumors  of  revolu- 
tion on  the  Mexican  frontier  became  rife ;  bands 
of  filibusters  were  beard  of  in  tbe  neighbor- 
hood, and  political  intrigue  absorbed  all  other 
topics  of  interest.  A  scheme  had  been  arranged 
for  some  time  past  between  General  Canales, 
the  General-in-chief  of  the  Mexican  militia,  and 
General  Arista,  the  President  of  the  Republic 
of  Mexico,  to  declare  the  northern  portions  of 
that  country  (where  the  latter  owned  vast  pos- 
sessions) an  independent  State,  which  in  the 
course  of  time  they  proposed  to  annex  to  the 
United  States,  and  in  the  meanwhile  to  demand 
our  support  and  protection,  under  the  new  title 
of  the  "  Republic  of  Sierra  Madre." 

The  most  prominent  and  active  leader  in  the 
cause  was    Caravajal,   one   of   the    shrewdest 


192  FILIBUSTERING. 

statesmen  of  Mexico — a  man  of  astute  intellect, 
and  more  than  ordinary  mental  culture.  The 
plans  of  these  diplomatic  heads  were  for  a 
bloodless  revolution.  The  troops  belonging  to 
the  regular  army  of  Mexico  had  all  been  with- 
drawn from  the  frontier,  and  the  militia  (paid 
vassals  and  confederates  in  the  scheme)  placed 
there,  agreeing  to  silently  and  indisputably  sur- 
render all  power  to  him.  Under  this  new  phase 
of  government,  taxes  and  the  custom-houses 
were  alike  to  be  abolished,  and  a  free  trade  to 
be  established  with  the  United  States. 

These  plans  were  confided  to  many  of  the 
Texan  lodge  of  Free-Masons,  to  which  fraternity 
Caravajal  belonged,  and  as  their  interests  as 
merchants  were  a  good  deal  involved  in  the 
issue,  they  joined  heartily  with  the  revolu- 
tionists. 

Caravajal  was  by  education  an  American,  al- 
though most  patriotically  devoted  to  the  land  of 
his  birth.  He  had  acquired  a  superior  classical 
education  at  the  University  of  Kentucky,  where 
he  had  graduated,  and  consequently  was  men- 
tally superior  to  most  of  his  countrymen,  the 


FILEBUSTEKING.  193 

Mexican  institutions  for  the  education  of  youth 
being  of  a  very  inferior  description. 

He  was  a  small  man,  with  a  dark  complexion 
and  an  eagle  eye,  the  beauty  of  his  excessively 
ugly  face — like  a  Scotch  terrier — consisting  of 
this  very  ugliness  combined  with  an  ex- 
pression of  great  intelligence.  The  first  time 
that  I  saw  him,  I  was  on  horseback,  riding 
across  the  chapparal  to  the  ranche,  on  a  shop- 
ping expedition,  to  purchase  a  few  of  the  many 
luxuries  to  be  found  there.  When  we  met 
Caravajal,  I  knew  him  in  an  instant,  by  the 
stylish  way  in  which  he  wore  his  black  felt 
sombrero,  by  the  silver-mounted  pistols  in  his 
belt,  and  by  the  pure  English  accent  of  his  salu- 
tation. 

The  Texans,  impatient  for  the  moment  to  arrive 
when  the  custom-houses  and  taxes  were  to  be 
done  away  with,  and  their  goods  in  consequence 
pass  into  Mexico  free  of  duty,  were  annoyed  at 
the  slow  and  decidedly  un-American  style  in 
which  affairs  were  being  conducted,  and  there- 
fore determined  to  infuse  a  little  more  "  patrio- 
tism" (as  they  called  it)  into  the  counsels  of  the 


194  FILIBUSTERING. 

leaders.  Through  them  a  new  turn  was  given  to 
affairs,  and  what  was  in  the  first  place  to  have 
been  effected  by  diplomacy,  was  now  destined  to 
terminate  in  a  series  of  sanguinary  engagements, 
with  rapine,  murder,  and  destruction  in  their 
train.  These  commenced  directly  opposite  us, 
in  the  siege  of  Camargo  by  a  mixed  army  of 
Americans  and  Mexicans,  led  on  by  Caravajal, 
roused  to  so  high  a  pitch  of  enthusiasm,  that 
men  from  the  ranks  were  daily  deserting  the 
garrison  of  Kinggold  Barracks  to  join  them. 

On  the  morning  of  the  battle  we  were 
awakened  at  dawn  by  the  roar  of  cannon  and 
the  din  of  musketry  that  told  of  the  engagement 
that  was  going  on,  within  less  than  three  miles 
of  us.  The  point  of  the  highest  eminence  in  the 
garrison  was  a  balcony  surrounding  the  flag- 
staff, which  was  placed  on  a  high  ridge  of  land ; 
a  flight  of  winding  steps  led  to  it.  We  hurried 
there  to  see  what  we  could  of  the  flght. 

The  cold  grey  dawn  of  December  was  just 
melting  under  the  warm  influence  of  early  day 
A  few  stars  shone  dimly  around  the  faint  out- 
line of   a  new  moon,   and  the    crimson   and 


FILIBUSTERING.  195 

golden  rays  of  a  southern  sun  glowed  and 
sparkled  on  the  frosty  air  as  it  rose  slowly  in  the 
horizon  over  the  mountains  des  Lampases. 

With  the  exception  of  one  mountain  range, 
the  surrounding  country  was  flat,  and  on  every 
side  prairie  lands  lay  stretched  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  see,  till  sky  and  land  seemed  merged  into 
an  indistinct  vapor.  The  Eio  Grande  wound  its 
sluggish  way  amidst  its  barren  sandy  banks,  more 
like  a  wide  canal  than  a  river.  The  buildings 
of  Camp  Ringgold  lay  at  our  feet.  A  little  fur- 
ther up  the  river  was  Rio  Grande  City.  Flags 
were  hoisted  from  the  house-tops,  and  signs  of 
an  unusual  bustle  and  excitement  prevailed. 
Almost  directly  opposite  lay  Camargo,  the  scene 
of  the  battle.  A  heavy,  dull,  vapory  cloud 
hung  over  the  country  in  that  direction, 
and  the  firing  of  guns,  wild  yells  of  men  aixd 
neighing  of  horses,  in  mingled  confusion,  came 
wafted  to  us  at  intervals  on  the  clear  morning 
breeze,  giving  token  of  the  struggle  that  was 
going  on  between  the  filibuster  and  Mexic-m 
forces. 

The  Mexican  troops,  who  occupied  the  to^  n, 


196  FILIBUSTERING. 

had  taken  the  precaution  to  leave  their  barracks 
the  moment  they  learned  of  the  approach  of  the 
filibusters,  and  formed  on  the  plain,  outside  of 
the  city  walls.  They  knew  by  experience  with 
what  skill  the  Americans  penetrated  through  the 
houses  by  making  holes  in  the  walls,  thus  passing 
from  house  to  house,  covering  themselves  from 
the  fire  of  the  enemy,  until  they  were  in  close 
rifle  distance,  when,  each  man  taking  a  careful 
aim,  a  deadly  fire  would  be  opened  upon  them 
such  as  few  troops  (and  especially  Mexicans) 
could  withstand.  It  was  to  avoid  all  this  that 
they  had  determined  to  meet  the  assailants  out- 
side of  the  town,  a  manoeuvre  entirely  unex- 
pected by  the  filibusters.  The  battle  was  there- 
fore commenced  sooner  than  they  had  antici- 
pated. At  the  first  fire,  the  Mexican  allies  of 
the  filibusters  fled  in  every  direction.  All  at- 
tempts to  rally  them  were  vain.  Many  in  their 
flight  plunged  into  the  river  and  were  drowned. 
The  few  Americans  were  left  alone.  Tliese 
gathered  together  around  their  only  piece  of  ar- 
tillery, determined  to  die  rather  than  yield  the 
field. 


FILIBUSTERING.  197 

The  Mexican  foe  outnumbered  them  ten  to 
one.  This  did  not  daunt  them.  The  leaden 
storm  swept  through  their  ranks,  and  thinned 
their  numbers.  Still  thej  stood  their  ground. 
The  fugitives  brought  word  to  the  Americans 
on  our  side  of  the  river  of  the  critical  position 
of  their  friends ;  the  greatest  excitement  pre- 
vailed. Every  American  not  in  the  army,  armed 
himself  for  the  rescue.  The  regular  soldiers 
would  have  gone  had  they  dared.  Even  the 
women  wanted  to  go.  Clay  Davis,  who  had 
remained  aloof  until  now,  mounted  his  horse 
and  rode  out  to  an  encampment  of  Carese 
Indians.  Soon  he  reappeared  with  his  face 
painted  red,  followed  by  the  whole  band  of 
Indians,  yelling  at  the  top  of  their  lungs,  bran- 
dishing their  tomahawks  and  spears. 

Gathering  hastily  into  boats,  they  were  drawn 
swiftly  across  the  river,  and  darting  up  the 
banks  they  disappeared  in  the  chapparal  to- 
ward? the  scene  of  action. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  firing  had  ceased.  It 
was  a  moment  of  fearful  suspense,  for  we 
thought  the  little  band  had  been  forced  to  sur- 


198  FILIBUSTERING. 

render,  but  loud  cheers  soon  told  us  that  the 
Indians  had  arrived,  and  the  firing  was  agaiu 
renewed  with  redoubled  spirit,  and 

"  All  day  long  the  noise  of  battle 
Rolled  among  the  mountains." 

Happily,  night  came  and  put  a  stop  to  the  un- 
equal strife. 

The  silence  which  followed  the  suspension  of 
hostilities  was  broken  in  upon  at  sunset  by  the 
vesper  chimes,  which  floating  once  more  from 
the  old  cathedral  towers,  on  the  evening  air,  told 
a  story  of  peace,  contrasting  strongly  with  the 
recent  conflict.  The  bells  tolled  forth  a  solemn 
requiem,  that  fell  soothingly  on  the  ear  of  the 
dying,  and  over  the  dead  that  had  fallen.  The 
atmosphere  was  cleared  from  the  smoke  of  bat- 
tle, and  the  domes  and  towers  of  Camargo 
rose  up  clearly  against  the  twilight  sky,  the 
fiery  crimson  of  a  peculiar  sunset  casting  a  red 
glow  on  nature.  In  other  centuries  and  other 
climes,  this  sign  would  have  been  looked  upon 
as  a  symbol  from  Mars,  smiling  on  heroic  deeds, 
on  receiving  to  his  realms  the  warriors  that  had 


FILIBUSTERING.  199 

been  slain.  No  one  thought  of  this,  and  I  even 
heard  one  of  our  party  (a  Major  over  forty)  re- 
mark that  the  sunset  promised  a  hot  day  in  store 
for  us !  The  world  gets  every  day  more  painfully 
matter  of  fact,  and  the  imagination  becomes 
cramped  and  subdued  by  utilitarianism !  Poets, 
it  is  well  known,  are  yearly  becoming  rarer, 
and  even  a  poetic  temperament  now  yearns  for 
a  court  office  and  salary  to  inspire  its  muse ! 
The  most  daring  deed,  and  the  most  glowing 
lyre,  may  linger  for  the  moment  on  our  ears  and 
then  pass  into  entire  forgetfulness — a  mere  rip- 
ple on  the  smooth  sea  of  our  common-place  ex- 
istence. "Where,  now,  grow  the  laurel  and  the 
bay  tree  to  furnish  crowns  for  the  poet  or  the 
hero  ? 

■  The  next  morning  developed  a  most  peculiai 
and  unparalleled  circumstance  in  the  annals  of 
war.  On  the  previous  day  the  filibusters  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  as  their  forces  were  dimi- 
nishing, and  their  ammunition  giving  out,  they 
would  prove  the  maxim  that  "  the  better  part  of 
valor  is  discretion,"  and  retire  to  replenish  their 
forces  and  fire-arms,  to  renew  the  attack  with 


200  FILIBUSTERING. 

more  assured  prospects  of  success.  Simultane- 
ously with  the  filibusters'  fit  of  discretion,  a  pa- 
nic struck  the  Mexican  troops  (who  are  innate 
cowards),  and  as  one  party  beat  a  retreat  in  one 
direction,  the  other  party  fled  in  an  opposite 
one,  leaving  the  late  scene  of  contest  in  sole 
possession  of  the  priests,  the  women  and  chil- 
dren, the  infirm  and  the  dying.  These  began 
making  immediate  preparations  to  cross  (with 
their  possessions)  to  the  American  side  of  the 
river,  where  they  knew  their  lives  and  proper- 
ties would  be  more  secure. 

Our  horses  were  ready  at  the  door,  and  we 
rode  up  to  Kio  Grande  City  to  hear  the  particu- 
lars of  yesterday's  engagement.  The  scene  that 
met  us  there  was  unexpectedly  full  of  novelty 
and  raciness.  The  river  seemed  alive  with 
groups  of  refugees,  in  row  boats  and  flat  boats, 
crossing  the  river,  fleeing  from  the  revolutionary 
ravages.  Children  of  every  age,  peasant  women 
with  bright  petticoats  and  rebosas,  aged  crones 
with  whitened  locks  and  bent  forms,  tottering 
old  men  with  long  silvered  beards,  patriarclis, 
cripples,  and  bambinos,  all  that  was  pitlfid  and 


FILIBUSTERING.  201 

helpless  in  human  nature,  seemed  to  be  wafted 
across,  and  landed  on  the  shores,  as  if  there  were 
safety  and  protection  in  the  very  sand  banks 
on  which  they  landed,  because  they  bore  the 
(to  them)  sacred  name  of  one  of  the  United  States, 
the  home  of  "the  proud  Americans  "  as  they  ad- 
miringly call  us. 

I^owhere  are  we  more  respected,  even  vene- 
rated, as  a  nation  than  by  these  simple  and 
ignorant  peasantry  of  our  border.  All  the  vital- 
ity that  they  know  is  due  to  our  influence,  which 
comes  to  their  stagnant  land  as  refreshingly  as 
rain  to  a  drooping  parterre,  and  causes  civiliz- 
ation to  flow  through  these  regions,  like  its  river 
Bio  Bravo  del  Norte,  bringing  with  it  the  only 
blessing  this  barren  country  has  ever  known. 

The  American   elements   that   have    spread 

here  have  given  a  new  impulse,  where  but  a 

short  time  ago  all  was  torpid  and  lifeless.     On 

the  plaza  were  gathered  clusters  of  filibusters, 

among    them    many  who   have   since   become 

doubly  notorious  for  their  daring  and  bravery 

under  General  Walker,  at  IlTicaragua.   Rumors  of 

Caravajal's  near  neighborhood  were  whispered 
9* 


202  .     FILIBUSTERING. 

about,  and  I  recognised  in  a  little  dark-eyed, 
curly-headed  boy,  a  likeness  to  the  famous 
border  chieftain,  which  led  me  to  suppose  his 
family  were  there  also  incog. 

Most  conspicuously  among  these  men  stood 
Clay  Davis,  in  a  red  shirt,  bound  with  black 
ribbon,  falling  carelessly  open  at  the  neck, 
showing  linen  of  the  exquisite  embroidery  of 
the  Mexican  women,  a  sash  and  belt  filled  with 
fire-arms,  a  Kentucky  "tooth-pick"  glistening 
in  its  crimson  sheath  among  them.  A  slouched 
black  hat  completed  his  graceful  costume,  which, 
with  the  exception  of  a  little  extra  touch  of 
dandyism,  closely  resembled  that  of  all  the  fili- 
busters. I  never  could  quite  bring  myself  to 
the  belief  indulged  in  by  many  worthy  people, 
that  it  is  a  sign  of  a  weak  mind  to  eschew 
clumsy  boots  and  wear  spotless  linen  ! 

Around  Mr.  Davis  were  gathered  the  Indians 
whom  he  had  led  so  gallantly  to  the  rescue. 
They  belonged  to  a  tribe  once  brave  and  fa- 
mous, now  dwindled  down  to  about  two  hundred 
warriors ;  tliey  were  on  excellent  terms  with  the 
Mexicans  and  Americans,  from  whom  they  had 


FILIBUSTERING.   .  203 

learned,  by  occasional  intercourse,  some  of  the 
rudiments  of  civilization.  Hearing  of  the  war- 
fare that  was  in  prospect,  they  had  come  down 
from  their  northern  retreats  to  offer  their  ser- 
vices in  the  cause  of  the  revolutionists,  of  course 
expecting  some  remuneration  in  the  way  of 
plunder,  or  otherwise,  as  I  do  not  think  well 
enough  of  human  nature  to  imagine  that  disin- 
terested good  fellowship  alone  could  inspire  a 
band  of  two  hundred  men  simultaneously !  They 
were  dressed  in  the  skins  of  wild  animals,  bound 
around  their  loins,  their  hair  parted  in  the  cen- 
tre of  the  head,  and  braided  down  their  backs 
in  the  style  of  the  Misses  Ken  wigs.  They  were 
armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  and  rifles  (sup- 
plied of  course  by  the  Americans),  of  which  they 
had  learned  the  use  with  great  aptness.  Every 
man  had  an  arrow  peculiar  to  himself,  so  that 
after  the  fight  was  over  each  one  might  ascer- 
tain with  certainty  who  could  claim  the  scalps 
of  the  slain.  Several  squaws  accompanied  them, 
dressed  in  wolf-skins,  with  bead  work  belts  and 
moccasins.  Their  countenances  were  unattrac- 
tive and  inexpressive ;  evidently  they  were  not 


204  FILIBUSTERING. 

troubled  by  any  useless  sensibility;  they  looked 
more  like  men  than  women.  They  had  with 
them  several  little  copper-colored  papooses 
strapped  down  most  unmercifully  to  a  shingle, 
on  whom  they  seemed  to  scorn  to  lavish  those 
little  foolish  endearments  so  natm*al  and  spon- 
taneous to  the  maternal  heart.  They  rather 
treated  them  like  little  faggots  that  some  stern 
necessity  forced  them  not  to  entirely  abandon. 
A  t'ger  cat  with  its  cub  that  I  once  saw  might 
have  put  their  stolidity  to  shame !  The  main 
portion  of  these  lovely  females  were  encamped 
with  their  children  some  few  miles  distant — it 
was  only  a  chosen  few  who  had  been  brought 
down  to  the  ranche. 

"While  we  stood  looking  on  at  this  motley 
group,  and  conversing  with  the  filibuster  oflicers, 
a  new  boat  arrived  from  the  opposite  shore,  and 
disgorged  its  promiscuous  crew  of  peasantry  and 
soldiers :  among  them  a  man  landed,  and  came 
to  report  himself  to  an  officer  who  was  talking 
to  me,  so  that  I  had  the  full  benefit  of  his  Avords. 
His  name  was  Sam  Stevens,  evidently  a  private, 
and  a  person  of  some  consequence  with  his  con 


FILIBUSTERING.  205 

federates,  who  gathered  around  and  hailed  his 
advent  among  them  with  a  loud  shout  of  wel- 
come, one  of  them  exclaiming,  "Here's  a  fel- 
ler that's  real  weather-proof,  he  was  shot  in  the 
^y®  hj  a  cannon  ball,  and  it  couldn't  hurt 
him !"  To  this,  Sam  modestly  remarked,  with  a 
broad  deprecating  grin,  "Well,  it  was  some- 
thing of  a  jarP^  which  speech  was  received 
with  a  perfect  howl  of  delight  by  his  apprecia- 
tive audience.  Thus  encouraged  (first  touching 
his  hat  gallantly  towards  me),  he  gave  us  a 
spirited  account  of  yesterday's  enagement,  tell- 
ing how  Major  D.  had  "spit  fire  on  them  greas- 
ers "  with  his  rifle,  and  led  on  the  forlorn  hope, 
with  a  tremendous  amount  of  "pluck."  From 
this  his  discourse  flowed  off  into  a  wild  rhap- 
sody on  "  the  great  cause,"  making  abundant 
use  of  the  words  sovereign  people,  freedom, 
liberty,  and  other  expressions  peculiarly  Ameri- 
can in  style,  all  of  which  was  received  by  his 
audience  with  rounds  of  hearty  applause.  1 
could  have  remained  for  hours,  listening  and 
observing,  with  intense  interest,  the  proceedings 
of  these  varied  cliaracters,  but  being  with  "  the 


206  FILIBUSTERING. 

officer  of  the  day,"  who  had  to  return  at  the 
stroke  of  the  hour  to  make  a  tour  of  inspection 
of  the  garrison,  we  turned  our  horses'  heads 
reluctantly  homewards. 

On  the  following  evening,  as  we  were  taking 
our  accustomed  ride  towards  Eio  Grande  City, 
we  met  a  group  of  Mexicans  and  Texans  bear- 
ing the  corpse  of  a  man  across  the  chapparal 
towards  the  garrison  burying-ground.  He  had 
fallen  in  the  engagement,  yesterday,  mortally 
wounded,  and  had  died  that  morning  on  the 
American  side  of  the  river.  We  paused  as  they 
passed,  and  one  of  them  handed  us  some  papers 
that  had  been  found  on  the  body,  which  was 
wrapped  in  a  Mexican  poncho,  and  laid  on  a 
rough  bier.  He  was  young,  in  the  first  flush  of 
manhood ;  his  finely-cut  features  showed  refine- 
ment as  well  as  beauty.  I  knew  instinctively 
that  there  were  those  living  whose  blood  would 
have  been  checked  in  its  course,  could  they 
have  seen  him  as 

"  In  the  twilight  cold  and  grey, 
Lifeless  and  beautiful  he  lay," 


FILIBUSTERING.  207 

no  hand  of  affection  to  smootlie  the  tangled 
masses  of  his  hair,  or  to  show  those  last  tributes 
that  love  alone  can  offer  to  the  dead. 

I  kept  the  papers  that  these  men  gave  me, 
and  feel  no  scruples  in  giving  the  inferences 
that  I  drew  ffom  them,  as  I  never  found  a  clue 
to  his  history  or  even  his  name.  Tliey  con- 
sisted of  some  notes  of  filibuster  life,  and  his 
letters,  one  evidently  from  his  mother,  written 
in  a  delicate  tremulous  hand,  although  the  sig- 
nature and  superscription  had  been  carefully 
destroyed.  It  begged  her  "dearest  boy"  to 
come  home,  as  she  could  not  live  long  without 
him.  The  other  was  from  his  lady-love, 
and  to  the  same  effect.  I  felt  much  more 
sympathy,  however,  for  the  former  than  for  the 
latter,  for  as  a  general  rule  bereaved  lady-loves 
are  consolable — ^but  no  new  affection  can  efface 
the  image  of  a  lost  child  from  its  mother's  heart; 
no  time  entirely  dry  up  her  secret  tears.  There 
can  never  cease  to  be  moments  when  through 
the  vista  of  years  her  grief  will  seem  as  if  ot 
yesterday. 

The  United  States  Court  was  to  sit  in  Browns- 


208  FILIBUSTERING. 

ville  in  a  few  days,  to  try  all  of  these  men  that 
could  be  captured  for  a  breach  of  the  neutrality 
laws.  The  people  there,  as  well  as  the  press, 
took  the  warmest  interest  and  felt  the  deepest 
sympathy  in  the  success  of  the  revolutionists, 
while  the  Court  and  the  United  States  oflScers 
(whatever  their  private  feelings  may  be)  were  in 
duty  bound  to  frown  on  their  proceedings. 
Rumors  that  the  Texas  Rangers,  lately  disband- 
ed from  the  United  States  service,  were  on  their 
way  to  Rio  Grande  City,  were  very  prevalent. 
Their  object  was,  to  get  on  the  wilds  of  the 
prairies  further  north,  beyond  the  influence  of 
the  law,  and  do  all  in  their  power  to  aid  the 
filibuster  forces  in  what  they  regarded  as  a 
righteous  cause.  Our  government  ordered  that 
officers  should  be  stationed  with  a  certain 
number  of  men  and  pieces  of  artillery  all 
along  the  river  to  prevent  American  citizens 
from  crossing  to  the  Mexican  side,  and  joining 
what  it  denominated  the  rebel  forces.  Tliis 
however  was  a  very  difficult,  almost  an  imprac- 
ticable thing  on  so  extensive  a  line ;  the  most 
they  could  achieve  was  to  prevent  large  armed 


FILIBUSTEKING.  209 

bodies  from  crossing.  Smaller  parties  could  not 
be  stopped,  and  it  was  very  easy  for  these  to 
rendezvous  and  organize  on  the  other  side. 
Parties  of  troops  were  sent  out  from  Ringgold 
Barracks  to  disperse  any  armed  bodies  that 
they  might  encounter,  and  in  this  way  allay  the 
excitement  on  our  side  of  the  river  at  least. 

One  of  these  parties  encountered  General 
Canales,  the  greatest  guerilla  chieftain  of  Mexico 
during  the^  late  war  with  the  United  States. 
These  guerillas  correspond  to  the  "  minute  men" 
of  the  revolutionary  war,  who  pursued  their 
everyday  vocations,  unless  the  enemy  came  in 
their  immediate  vicinity,  when,  at  a  moment's 
warning,  they  took  up  arms  and  assembled  for 
battle.  Canales  had  been  probably  the  most 
deadly  enemy  our  army  had  among  the  hosts  of 
their  Mexican  opponents. 

Since  Caravajal  had  broken  faith  with  Arista 
and  Canales,  by  telling  their  schemes  to  the 
Texan  free-masons,  they  had  ceased  to  act  in 
concert,  and  when,  from  the  Mexican  shore,  the 
latter  saw  a  body  of  regular  United  States  troops 
witli    two    officers,    encamped    on    the    river's 


210  FILIBUSTERING. 

bank,  he  knew  intuitively  their  errand,  and 
raised  signal  flags  to  attract  their  attention. 
This  accomplished,  an  American  soldier  was 
immediately  despatched  in  a  "  dug-out,"  bor- 
rowed from  a  Mexican  whose  ranche  lay  close 
by,  and  it  soon  relanded  with  this  bloody  chief, 
who  with  extended  arms  warmly  embraced  the 
American  officers,  many  of  whose  friends  had 
fallen  killed  or  wounded  by  his  hand. 

After  this  affectionate  yet  unpleasant  embrace 
they  drank  a  pledge  of  good  fellowship,  Canales 
drinking  out  of  a  silver  flagon,  which  I  still  pre- 
serve, and  which  at  that  time  formed  part  of  the 
camp  equipage  of  one  of  the  officers  of  the  party. 
He  was  a  corpulent,  greasy,  and  benevolent 
looking  gentleman,  saying  more  overwhelmingly 
civil  things  in  the  space  of  flve  minutes  than  he 
had  ever  felt  in  the  whole  course  of  his  life,  with 
more  grace  of  manner  than  it  would  be  supposed 
so  stout  and  elderly  a  person  could  muster. 
The  Mexicans  are  full  of  a  kind  of  stately  Sir 
Charles  Grandison  grandeur  and  dignity,  which 
might  be  imposing  to  a  person  possessed  of  an 
impressible    mind,   but    under    other    circum- 


FILIBUSTERING.  211 

stances  it  appears  forced,  tiresome,  and  even 
absurd. 

Knowing  some  of  the  outlaws  quite  inti- 
mately, I  accepted  an  offer  from  one  of  them  to 
send  a  message  to  the  party  who  were  in 
search  of  filibusters.  Cavarajal's  courier  came 
and  received  my  commission,  and  after  riding 
express  to  deliver  it,  rode  on  to  inform  him  of 
the  whereabouts  of  the  party  of  regulars  who 
were  on  his  track  !  My  dreadful  infringement 
of  etiquette  was  however  gallantly  winked  at, 
and  afforded  a  great  topic  of  amusement  to  all 
parties.  Kigidly  observed  orders  would  have 
produced  a  civil  war,  instead  of  attaining  the 
d.esired  object  of  suppressing  revolution,  and 
there  was  no  little  good  feeling  existing  in  many 
instances  between  the  parties  of  the  pursuer  and 
the  pursued. 


CHAPTEE  XIX. 


LOS  INDIOS. 


In  a  wild,  picturesque  spot  near  the  banks  of  the 
river,  some  miles  above  the  garrison,  the  Carese 
Indians  had  pitched  their  camp.  Here  they  had 
left  their  squaws  and  papooses,  when  they  join- 
ed the  filibusters  in  their  attack  on  Camargo. 

A  company  of  mounted  infantry  was  going 
that  way,  where  it  was  reported  there  was  some 
grass  growing.  Tliey  were  going  out  in  search 
of  it,  to  give  their  horses  the  unwonted  luxury 
of  a  few  hours'  grazing.  We  took  advantage 
of  this  escort  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  Indian  en- 
campment. 

"We  started  very  early,  while  still — 

"The  maiden  glory  of  the  morning  star 
Shone  in  the  steadfast  blue." 

Before  the  sun  had  begun  to  dry  up  the  night's 


LOS   IN  DIGS.  213 

dews,  our  horses  were  at  the  door.     It  was  a 
delicious  southern  winter's  day — 

"  A  dewy  morn, 
"With  breath  all  incense,  and  with  cheek  all  bloom, 
Laughing  the  clouds  away,  with  playful  scorn, 
And  living  as  if  earth  contained  no  tomb, 
And  glowing  into  day." 

A  body  of  armed  men  rode  in  advance  of  us, 
and  the  rest  followed  in  our  rear.  So  we  rode 
across  the  unbeaten  prairies,  with  nothing  but 
occasional  sandy  ridges  to  obstruct  our  path. 
Vast  level  plains  lay  on  every  side  of  us,  with 
their  scanty  covering  of  weeds  and  wild  flowers, 
the  clear,  bright  blue  sky  overhead,  cloudless 
except  a  few  white  vapory  masses,  while  the  soft 
perfumed  air  of  a  tropical  December  stole  over 
the  senses  like  the  faint  odor  of  violets. 

The  clashing  of  the  sabres,  and  the  steady, 
monotonous  tramp  of  two  himdred  horses,  did 
not  destroy  the  influence  of  the  scene.  Our 
escort  moved  at  a  gentle  pace,  a  trot  or  canter 
being  impracticable  for  any  distance,  as  we 
were  pioneering  our  own  road,   and  a  strong 


214  LOS   INDIOS. 

chance  of  unknown  impediments  lay  before  us. 
A  walk,  too,  seemed  more  in  harmony  with  the 
atmosphere  and  its  influence. 

The  Indian  encampment,  with  its  "  cone-like 
cabins,"  at  length  came  in  view,  and  we  drew  up 
our  horses  before  it.  A  young  chieftain,  about 
ten  years  old,  came  out  to  look  at  us.  He  had 
a  bright  copper-colored  complexion,  and  long, 
straight,  black  hair.  In  his  hand  he  held  a  bow 
and  arrow,  quite  in  the  style  of  "  one  little 
Indian  boy !" 

"  Picayune !  picayune  !"  he  showed  his  know- 
ledge of  the  English  by  calling  out — the  only 
word  he  knew,  and  he  made  very  free  use  of  it. 
After  receiving  one  of  these  coins  as  an  en- 
couragement to  pursue  his  studies  as  a  linguist, 
he  disappeared  ;  but  soon  returned,  with  his  sis- 
ter, a  young  squaw,  the  difierence  of  whose  ap- 
pearance from  the  other  women  of  the  tribe  was 
very  striking.  She  was  the  most  beautiful  spe- 
cimen of  humanity  that  I  ever  saw,  dressed  in  a 
wolf-skin  blouse,  embroidered  with  beads,  her 
long  hair,  plaited  in  a  hundred  braids,  falling 
around  her  in  ebon  masses.    Her  face  was  cut 


LOS   INDIOS.  215 

as  if  with  the  chisel  of  a  Phidias,  the  nostril, 
mouth,  and  chin  a  study  of  beauty — "  beautiful 
disdain"  (of  which  she  probably  was  incapable !) 
expressed  in  every  delicate  curve.  Her  large, 
liquid,  dreamy  eyes,  with  their  heavy  lashes, 
which  seemed  to  require  an  effort  to  raise  them 
from  her  cheek,  through  which  shone  a  faint  red 
flush  that  bespoke  the  Anglo-Saxon  blood  which 
rendered  her  Indian  beauty  so  peerless.  When 
she  raised  her  eyes  in  their  wonderful  and 
dreamy  loveliness,  they  seemed  to  deluge  the 
spectator  with  beauty.  She  went  into  a  tent 
and  soon  returned,  bringing  us  an  offering  of 
milk  and  watermelons.  A  number  of  young 
Indians  of  all  sizes  and  ages,  quite  "al  fres- 
co," surrounded  us,  begging  for  picayunes, 
which  urgent  demands  soon  caused  the  sup- 
ply to  fail,  and  the  bank  to  suspend  pay- 
ment. 

We  did  not  dismount,  as  we  found  the  report 
of  grass  to  be  without  foundation.  The  sun 
may  have  scorched  it  up,  or  it  may  have  been 
cut  for  their  cattle  by  the  Indians.  Whatever 
the  circumstances  were,  we  could  not  find  it, 


216  LOS   INDI08. 

and  as  the  afternoon  was  waning,  we  left  the 
camp  and  returned  homeward. 

The  cabins  looked  dirty  inside,  and  the  squaws 
and  children  ditto.  Tliey  could  not  speak  to  us, 
and  seemed  more  frightened  than  pleased,  so  that 
our  visit  was  not  as  gratifying  as  I  had  antici- 
pated. Our  ride  home  I  felt  to  be  very  perilous. 
My  fears  pictured  a  lurking  Camanche  in  the 
shadow  of  each  bush ;  we  however  reached 
home  in  ignoble  safety.  Reports  of  lurking 
Indians  were  so  rife  that  my  want  of  valor  may 
be  pardoned. 

Some  little  time  after  this  visit,  one  of  the 
warriors  of  the  Carese  tribe  came  down  to  Ring- 
gold Barracks  partially  on  a  tour  of  inspection, 
and  partially,  I  suppose,  to  return  the  courtesies 
of  our  call.  One  of  the  sentinels  on  duty  for- 
bade his  entrance,  on  the  plea  that  he  had  not 
on  a  square  inch  of  garment!  The  aborigine 
was  inclined  to  dispute  the  point,  when  the  offi- 
cer of  the  day  appeared,  and  insinuated,  as  deli- 
cately as  possible,  how  much  pleasure  it  would 
give  us  to  receive  him  in  a  little  fuller  dress ! 
He  took  the  hint  and  departed,  appearing  a  lit- 


LOS    INDIOS.  217 

tie  later  in  the  day,  arrayed  in  the  imposing  cos- 
tume of  a  volmninous  white  cotton  sheet,  look- 
ing like  the  sail  of  a  schooner  at  half  mast ! 

This  delicate  tribute  to  our  more  fastidious 
tastes,  or  (as  he  might  have  regarded  them) 
false  prejudices,  obtained  for  him  an  interview, 
and  I  had  an  opportunity  to  prove  that  it  did 
not  require  an  educated  taste  to  appreciate 
French  bonbons,  with  which  I  regaled  him ;  for 
this  "  red  man  of  the  prairies"  devoured  them  all 
most  remorselessly  and  with  evident  gusto.  I 
wonder  if  the  noble  Hiawatha  would  have  done 
the  same !  I  hope  not,  for  the  sake  of  poetic 
association ! 

About  this  time  the  Camanches  became  very 
troublesome  in  the  neighborhood ;  several  dread- 
ful cases  of  murder  and  rapine  occurred  in  our' 
immediate  vicinity.  The  commanding  officer 
considered  it  his  duty  to  send  off  all  the  officers 
and  most  of  the  men  to  try  and  terrify  this  dar- 
ing foe.  He  remained  himself  at  the  garrison, 
with  a  small  number  of  men,  not  sufficient  to 
defend  it  properly,  however.     I  felt  very  solitary 

in  the  nearly  deserted  camp,  entirely  alone  in 
10 


y 


218  LOS   INDIOS. 

my  little  house.  At  night  I  never  dared  to  light 
a  candle,  for  fear  of  giving  a  better  aim  to  the 
arrow  of  some  rascally  savage  without.  My 
black  esquire  used  to  go  off  to  fandangoes  every 
night,  and  I  was  deprived  of  the  companionship 
of  my  only  protector,  old  "  Jack,"  a  black  tan 
terrier,  with  the  most  roguish  ears  and  most 
"  druv  in"  of  tails,  by  his  wild  excitement  when- 
ever he  heard  a  drum  beat.  He  slept  in  my 
room  for  two  nights,  but  at  reveille  he  would 
rouse  me  by  a  fit  of  barking  that  rendered  him 
intolerable  !  I  gave  him  in  charge  of  one  of  our 
Sergeants,  who  professed  a  very  warm  attach- 
ment for  him,  saying  he  "  loved  him  better  than 
his  own  child  that  he  had  left  in  the  State  of 
Maine,"  which  triumph  over  paternal  love  I 
rewarded  by  giving  him  Jack  for  his  "i>un- 
kie !'' 

Jack  used  to  come  and  scratch  with  his 
yellow  foot  at  the  door  to  get  his  breakfast 
every  morning,  and  ask  for  it  with  his  bright 
brown  eyes  and  most  insinuating  tail.  On  one 
occasion  he  almost  tore  a  looking  glass  down, 
and  had  to  be  put  out  of  the  room.     Tlie  next 


LOS   INDIOS.  219 

morning  it  was  removed,  and  we  found  a  suffi- 
cient excuse  for  excitement  in  an  enormous 
tarantula,  superintending  a  brood  of  young 
tarantulas  who  had  recently  come  into  existence. 
These  are  spiders  of  the  size  of  a  small  crab, 
with  a  venomous  sting,  from  which  immediate 
death  ensues.  As  the  Sergeant,  who  destroyed 
this  nest,  remarked,  "  cannon-balls  and  fire-arms 
ain't  anything  alongside  of  one  of  them  fellers!" 
In  the  day-time,  when  the  sun  shone,  and  the 
delicious  atmosphere  tempted  me  to  spend  the 
whole  day  on  the  piazza,  seated  in  a  hammock, 
reading  or  dreaming  of  what  I  had  read, 

"  Wandering  through  the  quiet  land  of  thought, 
Where  all  was  peaceftd — " 

then  I  felt  very  brave ;  but  with  the  shades  of 
evening  an  absolute  terror  would  fall  on  my 
heart.  I  would  then  go  into  the  house,  and 
barricade  the  windows — an  unnecessary  precau- 
tion probably,  but  one  that  it  was  impossible  to 
resist.  Then  sitting  in  the  dark,  listening  to 
the  howling  wolves,  thinking  at  times,  when 


220  LOS    INDIOS, 

one  sounded  louder  than  the  rest,  that  it  was  the 
dreaded  war-cry  of  the  Camanches — ^I  blush  to 
record  that,  in  spite  of  all  my  preconceived  valor, 
I  prepared  myself  to  rush  to  a  pantry,  where  I 
had  determined  to  lock  myself  in.  The  agony 
of  terror  endured  during  this  period  was  such 
as  to  destroy  all  claims  of  ever  being  looked 
upon  as  anything  approaching  a  heroine. 

JS'early  two  weeks  passed  thus  when  the  scout- 
ing party  returned.  The  Indians  had  fled  in 
alarm  before  them,  and  for  the  time  our  pros- 
pects of  undisturbed  peacefulness  were  ei^ 
couraging. 


CHAPTEE   XX. 


CAMP     LIFE. 


Garrison  life,  in  the  phase  that  I  saw  it,  was 
very  pleasant.  Each  hour  was  marked  by 
some  peculiar  military  signal.  At  daybreak 
"  reveille  "  sounded  musically  on  the  drowsy  ear; 
then  came  the  "  sick  call,"  especially  agreeable 
to  "  Old  Soldiers  P^  Then  the  dulcet  airs  of  "  peas 
upon  a  trencher,"  or  "roast  beef,"  summoned 
the  soldier  with  fife  and  drum,  to  his  frugal 
repast  of  "junk"  and  hard  bread.  Guard- 
mounting,  morning  and  evening  drill,  parade, 
and  finally  tattoo,  systematically  divided  the  day, 
without  rendering  it  monotonous. 

Each  officer  took  his  turn  in  superintending 
the  details  of  garrison  duties.  "  The  officer  of 
the  day  "  visited  each  sentinel,  at  daybreak,  at 
sunset,  and  again  at  midnight,  besides  a  noon- 
day tour  of  mo^*e  minute  inspection. 


222  CAMP   LIFE. 

The  strict  discipline  and  subordination  in 
which  the  men  in  the  ranks  are  kept  by  their 
officers  is  tnily  wonderful  to  a  civilian,  used  to 
dealing  with  that  independent  race  of  subalterns 
who  are  legally  entitled  to  "  give  warning,"  if 
displeased  by  any  trifling  restriction  ! 

The  courts-martial,  which  meet  every  month, 
are  very  severe  in  the  punishment  of  disrespect, 
drunkenness,  or  any  other  of  the  amiable  weak- 
nesses to  which  the  rank  and  file  are  prone. 

One  delinquent  was  sentenced  to  wear  a  "  bar- 
rel jacket "  every  day  for  a  week.  It  consisted 
of  an  old  flour  barrel  with  a  hole  cut  for  his  head 
to  pass  through,  and  a  pair  of  holes  for  his  arms. 
This  was  a  reward  for  a  chronic  tendency  to 
"spree,"  which  somewhat  interfered  with  the 
strict  performance  of  his  military  duties. 

The  men  were  drilling  constantly  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Sergeants ;  the  officers  drilled 
them  only  once  a  day.  Cavalry  drill  was  my 
especial  delight.  The  officer  and  his  jet  black 
blood  horse  seemed  one  object,  so  perfectly  did 
the  motions  of  the  horse  and  rider  move  in  uni- 
son, either  heading  a  frantic  charge,  or  with  his 


CAMP   LIFE.  223 

platoon  prancing  gracefully  forward,  and  then 
with  an  unexpected  manoeuvre  turning  swiftly 
on  the  imaginary  foe. 

The  soldiers  of  our  garrison  belonged  to  that 
horse  marine  class  "mounted  infantry,"  so  that 
drilling  them  into  dragoons  was  by  no  means 
an  easy  or  pleasant  task.  Without  a  knowledge 
of  even  the  first  principles  of  riding,  they  sat  ' 
on  their  horses  like  a  parcel  of  clothes-pins,  and 
it  was  not  an  unusual  thing  to  see  a  dozen  dis- 
mounted at  once,  and  lie  sprawling  on  the 
ground ;  they  were  instantly  up,  however,  and  in 
their  saddles  to  try  it  once  more.  In  spite  of 
their  mishaps,  they  seemed  to  enjoy  it  very  much, 
and  after  a  few  months'  perseverance  became 
quite  a  presentable  cavalry  company. 

"  Swearing  like  a  trooper"  is  a  very  graphic 
expression,  for  if  the  most  sanctified  divine, 
knowing  the  beauties  of  a  well  performed  cavalry 
manoeuvre,  were  called  upon  to  perform  the 
task  of  drilling  raw  men  to  the  duty,  he  would 
have  committed  this  ungentlemanly  sin  almost 
spontaneously. 

This  course  of  mounting  the  foot  regiments 


224:  CAMP   LIFE. 

was  adopted  to  increase  our  resources  in  sending 
out  scouting  parties  after  the  Indians,  who  at 
certain  seasons  were  very  troublesome  and 
dangerous.  These  scouting  parties,  when 
equipped  to  start  on  their  perilous  but  exciting 
adventures,  presented  a  very  spirited  picture. 
The  officer  was  generally  dressed  in  a  dragoon 
fatigue  jacket,  with  gold  shoulder  straps  and 
buttons,  a  broad  brimmed  slouched  sombrero, 
and  a  pair  of  boots  with  sheaths  of  leather  to 
the  waist,  to  protect  him  from  the  underbrush 
through  which  he  was  forced  to  ride  a  great 
part  of  the  way.  A  belt  full  of  pistols,  a 
sword  buckled  to  the  side,  and  a  six-shooting 
rifle,  composed  his  supply  of  firearms.  A  pow- 
der-flask hanging  from  the  belt,  and  a  canteen  of 
water,  with  saddle-bags  of  limited  size  and 
capacity,  held  all  the  stores  that  he  could  take 
with  him  for  a  week. 

The  shirts  worn  on  these  occasions  would  pro- 
duce a  nervous  shock  on  the  sensitive  nerves  of 
a  certain  class  of  petits  maitres,  whose  ideas  are 
confined  to  the  fine  linen  and  delicate  cambric 
of  a  chemisiere  a  la  mode.     They  are  composed 


CAMP   LIFE.  225 

of  a  dark  blue  check  material,  warranted  to  last 
a  week^  and  are  in  great  demand  where  laun- 
dresses are  scarce.  They  are  termed  "  Old 
Hickories,"  cost  exactly  fifteen  cents,  and  are 
generally  used  by  hunting  and  scouting  parties 
in  this  part  of  the  world. 

The  men  were  equipped  something  like  their 
officers,  and  a  few  loaded  mules  with  a  limited 
store  of  provisions  accompanied  the  party.  The 
deer  and  other  game  which  they  might  shoot  on 
the  way  were  cooked  on  a  stick  before  the  camp- 
fire  when  they  halted  for  the  night  to  prepare 
their  primitive  meals  and  take  a  few  hours' 
necessary  rest.  Sometimes  they  rode  by  moon- 
light, and  chose  the  heat  of  the  day  for  rest 
and  sleep.  The  first  thought  of  the  men  on 
halting  is  for  their  officer,  whose  simple  arrange- 
ments for  repose  are  soon  made ;  his  saddle 
furnishes  a  pillow,  his  overcoat  and  blanket  a 
bed. 

Too   frequently  a  fatal  termination  gives  a 

painful    and    never-forgotten    interest    to    this 

peculiar  kind  of  military  duty,  as  was  the  case 

with  a  scouting  party  that  went  out  from  Laredo 
10^ 


226  CAMP   LIFE. 

(the  next  military  station  on  the  Hio  Grande 
above  Ringgold  Barracks). 

It  consisted  of  two  officers,  about  fifty  men, 
and  the  Indian  guide,  the  former  both  boys  in 
years.  They  started  out  with  the  usual  equip- 
ments, and  on  the  second  day  after  following  an 
Indian  trail,  came  to  a  point  where  it  suddenly 
disappeared,  and  no  traces  of  it  could  be  disco- 
vered. 

The  guide,  with  all  his  practised  keenness,  was 
at  a  loss  which  direction  to  take,  and  it  was 
finally  decided  that  they  should  separate  and  go 
in  different  directions.  They  drew  lots  for  the 
guide,  who  remained  with  Lieutenant  Y.,  while 
Lieutenant  H.  took  an  opposite  direction.  They 
bade  each  other  a  gay  and  friendly  farewell,  with 
expectations  of  meeting  again  in  another  week 
at  the  garrison  at  Laredo,  each  boasting  of  the 
scalps  and  trophies  they  would  show  on  their 
return. 

Harry  Love,  the  guide,  who  remained  with 
the  former  party,  was  a  character  whom  it  is 
worth  a  slight  digression  to  describe.  He  was 
originally  from  Vermont,  and  by  his  frankness 


CAMP   LIFE.  227 

and  fearlessness  in  a  measure  redeemed  his 
native  State  in  my  somewhat  prejudiced  eyes. 
His  physique  was  that  of  a  real  "  Green  Moun- 
tain Boy,"  six  feet  three,  and  stalwart  and  robust 
in  proportion,  as  bold  and  intrepid  as  a  lion, 
with  a  voice  of  thunder,  and  a  mild  blue  eye, 
which  softened  the  otherwise  fierce  aspect  of  his 
rough,  sun-burnt  face,  which  was  half  con- 
cealed by  a  flowing  beard  and  heavy  moustache. 

When  a  mere  boy,  he  became  disgusted  with 
the  restraints  of  home,  especially  the  petty  ty- 
ranny of  a  step-mother,  and  by  a  midnight  flight 
sundered  for  ever  these  galling  domestic  ties. 

At  a  seaboard  town,  he  sought  and  obtained 
a  situation  as  cabin-boy  on  a  vessel  bound  for 
the  West  Indies.  When  fairly  out  at  sea,  he 
discovered  that  he  formed  part  of  a  bucanier 
crew,  whose  exploits  on  the  Spanish  Main  he 
would  only  allude  to  vaguely  in  after  years. 
Over  all  attempts  to  trace  his  career  through 
the  vicissitudes  incident  upon  this  piratical  life 
he  studiously  threw  the  veil  of  taciturnity. 

At  the  opening  of  the  war  with  Mexico,  he 
found  himself  occupying  the  uninteresting  yet 


I 


228  CAMP   LIFE. 

lucrative  position  of  a  stevedore  at  Mobile  in 
Alabama. 

The  news  of  the  critical  position  of  General 
Taylor,  at  Fort  Brown,  which  alarmed  for  a  mo- 
ment the  whole  country,  created  along  the 
southern  seaboard  the  wildest  excitement.  Vo- 
lunteers were  not  wanting,  and  prominent 
among  them  was  Harry  Love.  The  morning 
after  the  receipt  of  the  news,  he  with  a  hundred 
others  set  sail  for  the  Kio  Grande,  to  the  rescue 
of  their  brave  countrymen.  But  the  old  hero 
had  fought  his  way  through  Mexican  bayonets 
before  they  arrived,  and  Harry  returned  to  Mo- 
bile, to  fulfil  a  long  cherished  wish  of  his  heart. 
As  has  been  before  remarked,  "alas  for  human 
constancy  !"  he  found  that  the  fair  object  of  his 
love  had  proved  false  during  his  absence,  and 
bestowed  herself  on  a  less  patriotic  admirer  ! 

Harry,  in  a  fit  of  misanthropic  disgust,  return- 
ed to  the  army,  and  throughout  the  war  perform- 
ed the  most  reckless  feats  of  bravery.  He  never 
became  entirely  cured  of  his  disappointment, 
which  seemed  to  have  taken  a  hold  on  his  heart 
that  neither  time  nor  the  instigations  of  common 


CAMP   LIFE. 

sense  could  entirely  eradicate.  Many  a  bright 
moonlight  night,  on  a  scout,  he  would  lie  on  the 
grass,  and  discuss  the  charms  of  this  delusive 
syren. 

It  might  have  seemed  weakness  had  he  not 
been  such  a  brave,  manly  fellow,  with  a  mind 
full  of  native  talent,  deeply  imbued  with  a  noble 
sense  of  honor,  learned  from  no  other  code  but 
the  instincts  of  his  own  uneducated  and  gene- 
rous nature. 

Harry  became  quite  an  adept  in  Indian  scout- 
ing while  in  Texas,  and  frequently  accompaniad 
parties  of  government  troops.  On  these  expedv 
tions  he  seemed  to  know  the  trail  almost  intui- 
tively. A  crashed  blade  of  grass,  or  some  other 
slight  signal,  led  him  on  their  track  for  miles, 
until  some  unmistakable  token  of  their  recent 
presence  proved  that  his  conjectures  had  not 
been  without  good  foundations.  On  the  occa- 
sion of  the  scout  to  which  I  now  allude,  the  trail 
had  been  lost  for  several  days,  and  it  seemed 
almost  impossible  to  find  any  trace  of  it.  The 
men  had  shown  symptoms  of  insubordination 
for  some  weeks  before  starting  from  camp,  and 


230  CAMP   LIFE. 

a  few  hours  after  the  officers  had  divided  forces^ 
it  was  discovered  that  they  were  commencing  to 
exhibit  signs  of  intoxication.  Their  canteens 
were  examined,  and  found  to  contain  whiskey 
instead  of  water,  which  had  been  surreptitiously 
introduced  after  inspection  previous  to  starting. 
Summary  measures  had  to  be  immediately 
taken.  There  was  no  time  to  pause  in  the  midst 
of  a  lonely  prairie,  with  the  Camanche  foe  lurk- 
ing near,  and  only  a  band  of  half  intoxicated 
men  to  oppose  them.  They  did  not  dare  to  dis- 
obey the  order  to  empty  their  canteens,  although 
no  promptness  was  shown,  and  it  was  done  with 
muttered  curses  and  murmurs  of  disapproval. 
One  man,  more  bold  and  intoxicated  than  the 
rest,  refused,  and  showed  such  flagrant  symptoms 
of  disrespect  and  disobedience,  that  very  prompt 
measures  were  called  for.  So  he  was  seized  by 
order  of  the  officer  by  his  sullen  and  unwilling 
companions  and  tied  with  a  rope  to  his  horse, 
who  dragged  him  so  for  nearly  a  mile.  This 
sobered  the  rest  almost  instantly,  and  they  rode 
forward,  knowing  they  had  no  alternative  but 
strict  observance   of  their   duties.     The  rope 


CAMP   LIFE  231 

finally  broke,  and  the  man  was  soon  lost  to  the 
view  of  his  companions.  He  eventually  reco- 
vered from  the  efi*ect  of  his  whiskey  and  bruises, 
and  found  his  way  back  on  foot,  telling  some  of 
his  messmates,  with  great  gusto,  what  a  sight  it 
was  to  see  his  lieutenant,  when  he  got  his  pluck 
up !  This  event,  instead  of  producing  dislike 
on  the  soldiers'  part,  seemed  to  add  to  their 
respect.  The  uneducated  mind  unconsciously 
and  innately  yields  to  mental  sway,  where  deci- 
sion and  firmness  combine  to  force  their  will,  and 
"  private  Jackson "  after  this  was  always  a 
model  specimen  of  military  discipline.  'No  other 
course  but  sacrificing  the  chances  of  life  in  one 
of  them  could  have  been  pursued  under  the  cir- 
cumstances. There  was  no  alternative  for  the 
preservation  of  the  rest ;  prompt  and  decided 
measures  were  absolutely  requisite. 

The  morning  after  these  occurrences,  the  party 
came  in  sight  of  the  encampment  of  the  Indians, 
at  a  distance  of  several  miles.  With  a  wild 
shout,  the  men  put  spurs  to  their  horses,  and 
dashed  over  the  prairie,  with  the  speed  of  the 
wind.     As  they  neared  the  camp  their  excite- 


232  CAMP   LIFE. 

merit  increased,  for  the  Indians,  so  suddenly  sur- 
prised, abandoning  their  wigwams,  horses,  and 
everything,  scattered  in  all  directions,  seek- 
ing safety  in  the  densely  tangled  chapparal.  The 
soldiers  followed  them  into  the  thicket,  tearing 
their  flesh  and  their  garments  at  every  step  ; 
horses  and  riders  were  pierced  and  bleeding 
from  the  thorns,  which  the  Indians  saved  them- 
selves from  by  crawling  on  the  ground  like 
snakes. 

It  was  impossible  to  trace  or  follow  them,  as 
the  horses,  maddened  with  pain,  refused  to 
further  breast  the  thorns.  Some  trophies  were 
secured  from  the  camp,  consisting  of  robes, 
head-dresses,  ponchos,  &c.,  and  the  pursuit  con- 
tinued by  skirting  the  chapparal. 

On  the  following  day  the  guide  struck  the  trail 
of  the  retreating  Indians,  and,  as  it  was  very 
fresh,  the  party  had  strong  hopes  of  soon  overtak- 
ing them  on  the  open  prairie,  where  they  could 
make  up  for  the  disappointment  of  the  day 
before.  About  noon  some  figures  in  the  far  dis- 
tance revived  the  excitement  of  the  men,  when, 
on  nearing  the  expected  foe,  they  discovered  that 


CAMP   LIFE.  233 

it  was  Lieutenant  H.'s  party.  But  what  a  sight 
met  their  view  !  The  ground  was  strewn  with 
dying  men,  and  Lieutenant  H.,  pierced  with  five 
arrows,  was  lying  under  the  shelter  of  a  low 
bush,  in  the  last  agonies  of  death.  The  story 
was  soon  told.  The  Indians  who  had  left  their 
encampment  pursued  by  the  U.  S.  soldiers,  had 
met  with  a  mounted  party  of  their  tribe  whom 
they  had  joined,  and  thinking  only  of  the  party 
in  pursuit  had  neglected  the  usual  precautions, 
and  came  suddenly  upon  the  party  of  Lieutenant 
II.  The  fight  was  brief  but  desperate.  In  the 
midst  of  it.  Lieutenant  H.  pointed  his  revol- 
ver at  one  of  them,  who  immediately  com- 
menced to  cry  and  shed  tears  copiously,  thus 
betraying  her  to  be  a  squaw, which  from  her  dress 
and  weather-beaten  old  face  he  would  never 
have  imagined.  His  innate  sense  of  gallantry 
revolted  at  fighting  even  with  a  woman  warrior, 
and  he  lowered  his  pistol.  She  seized  on  this 
advantage,  suddenly  veered  her  horse  (which 
she  rode  astride)  to  his  rear,  and  treacherously 
pierced  him  through  with  a  poisoned  spear. 
They  said  that  he  fell  without  a  struggle.     His 


234  CAMP   LIFE. 

infuriated  8  3ldiers,  led  on  by  the  Sergeant,  whc 
immediately  took  command,  paid  them  in 
bloodshed  for  the  loss  they  had  sustained  by 
killing  eight  of  their  party,  the  old  heathen 
matron  among  them  crying  and  screaming 
to  the  last  over  her  mortal  wounds!  This  is 
but  one  of  the  tragic  deeds  which  History 
does  not  record  and  Fame  does  not  trumpet, 
that  are  annually  occurring  on  our  frontier. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


TEXA3 — PAST,   PRESENT,   AKD  FUTUBB. 

"Even  now  we  hear  with  inward  strife 
A  motion  toiling  in  the  gloom — 
The  Spirit  of  the  years  to  come 
Teaming  to  mix  himself  with  Life. 

"A  slow  developed  strength  awaits 
Completion  in  a  painful  school ; 
Phantoms  of  other  forms  of  rule, 
New  Majesties  of  mighty  States." 


Probably  no  one  portion  of  our  union  presents 
so  many  interesting  features,  or  so  wide  a  field 
for  physical  researches,  as  that  embraced  within 
the  limits  of  Texas,  containing  as  it  does  in  wide- 
spread developments  the  three  great  leaves  upon 
which  nature  has  recorded  the  history  of  the 
material  world.    'No  less  extensive  is  the  field 


236         TEXAS — PAST,    PRESENT,   AND   FUTURE. 

wliich  lier  liistory  offers  to  the  contemplation  of 
tlie  political  economist. 

The  early  missions  of  the  Spaniards,  to  which 
allusion  has  already  been  made,  and  which  were 
the  first  attempts  to  settle  the  State,  were  effec- 
tually suppressed  by  the  failure  of  the  crops  and 
the  incursions  of  the  savages.  In  the  year  1714, 
the  Spanish  government  becoming  alarmed  on 
hearing  of  the  arrival  in  Mexico  of  an  adventu- 
rous Canadian,  who  had  crossed  through  Texas 
for  the  purpose  of  opening  commercial  relations 
with  that  country,  and  fearing  that  this  portion 
of  their  possessions  would  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  French,  decided  that  the  only  course  to  pre- 
vent it  would  be  to  renew  their  missions.  They 
therefore  established  a  chain  of  posts  from 
Florida  to  'New  Mexico,  which  soon  acquired  a 
permanent  footing.  The  ruins  of  some  of  these 
still  exist,  the  crumbling  towers,  arched  roofs  and 
dilapidated  walls,  indicating  a  not  unpretend- 
ing style  of  architecture.  Some  of  these  ruins 
are  used  for  government  stables,  others  are  un- 
occupied save  by  the  owl  and  the  bat. 

The  establishment  of  these  missions  seemed 


TEXAS PAST,    PRESENT,    AND   FUTTJEE.         237 

securely  to  fix  civilization  in  Texas.  The 
Spanish  government  was  extended  and  ac- 
knowledged throughout  the  settlements,  soldiers 
were  stationed  at  the  missions,  and  the  work  of 
converting  and  civilizing  the  Indians  proceeded 
unchecked  for  a  long  period  of  time. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
the  Anglo-Saxon  pioneers  began  to  find  their 
way  to  these  little  colonies.  They  were  soon 
followed  by  others,  and  in  1812  their  num- 
bers having  been  largely  augmented  by  the 
remnant  of  the  notorious  expedition  organized 
by  Aaron  Burr,  a  short-lived  and  unsuccessful 
revolution  was  formed  against  the  arbitrary 
government  of  Spain.  Shortly  after  this,  Mexi- 
co revolted  against  the  authority  of  Spain, 
and  after  a  short  struggle  established  her  in- 
dependence. From  that  time  to  the  present, 
the  history  of  that  country  has  been  one  con- 
tinued series  of  revolutions  and  counter-revo- 
lutions; every  page  of  her  annals  disfigured 
with  the  blood  of  men  who  had  at  one  time 
or  other  possessed  the  full  confidence  of  the 
people. 


238       TEXAS PAST,   PKE8ENT,   AND   FUTURE. 

It  was  not  in  the  nature  of  things  that  Texas , 
in  which  the  Anglo-Saxon  blood  now  predomi 
nated,  should  submit  to  the  arbitrary  laws 
and  exactions  of  this  fickle  and  miserable 
race.  The  dissolution  of  their  connexion  was 
the  natural  consequence  of  tyranny  on  the  one 
side  and  manly  resistance  on  the  other. 

The  struggle  for  independence  was  a  severe 
one,  and  it  was  not  until  the  best  blood  of  the 
pioneers  was  shed  that  she  proved  her  capacity 
for  resistance.  The  names  of  "Davie  Crock- 
ett" and  "  Bowie,"  whose  chivalrous  deeds  and 
desperate  daring  have  even  now  the  semblance 
of  fabled  story,  are  engraved  on  the  stones  of 
the  Alamo,  which  will  always  be  regarded  by 
the  Texan  as  a  new  Thermopylae. 

On  the  3d  of  March,  1837,  the  independence 
of  Texas  as  a  nation  was  acknowledged  by  the 
United  States,  and  two  years  after  by  France 
and  England. 

But  the  maintenance  of  a  separate  existence 
among  nations  required  greater  exertions  than 
the  infant  colonists  possessed.  Besides,  they 
had  not  fought  for  power,  but  for  freedom ;  this 


TEXAS PAST,   PRESENT,    AND   FUTURE.        239 

once  attained,  their  thoughts  reverted  to  the 
prosperous  land  from  whence  their  adventurous 
steps  had  brought  them.  It  was  their  birth- 
place, the  homes  of  their  brothers,  and  contained 
the  graves  of  their  fathers.  An  irresistible 
impulse  led  them  to  seek  admission  into  the 
Union.  This  was  accomplished  in  the  year 
1844. 

Hazardous  as  was  the  experiment  to  us,  the 
sequel  has  proved  that  this  political  exotic, 
transplanted  from  the  enervating  and  sickly 
soil  of  Mexico,  has,  under  the  genial  influence 
of  our  institutions,  grown  into  a  vigorous  and 
hardy  plant. 

Texas  is  a  State  of  enormous  area,  being  six 
hundred  miles  from  east  to  west,  and  four  hun- 
dred from  north  to  south,  containing  nearly  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  square  miles,  as  large 
as  the  l^Gw  England  and  Middle  States  com- 
bined. It  contains  a  population  of  three  hun- 
dred thousand  inhabitants  exclusive  of  Indians. 
The  greater  portion  of  the  settlers  are  from  the 
older  States ;  of  the  foreigners  a  large  proportion 
are  Germans. 


240        TEXAS PAST,    PKESENT,    AND    FUTURE. 

The  main  object  of  emigration  of  course  ia 
agriculture.  The  most  remarkable  physical  fea- 
ture of  the  State  is  the  extraordinary  number  and 
extent  of  the  rivers,  having  a  total  length  exceed- 
ing ten  thousand  miles,  which  with  their  thousand 
tributaries  penetrate  to  almost  every  part,  causing 
the  soil  under  the  hand  of  the  husbandman  to 
yield  abundant  harvests.  The  wild  luxuriant 
growth  of  the  forest  trees,  along  these  river 
banks,  have  by  their  overhanging  branches,  and 
by  falling  into  the  bed  of  the  stream,  forming 
natural  rafts,  prevented  extensive  navigation. 
The  valleys  of  these  rivers  will  in  a  short  time 
yield  the  great  bulk  of  the  cotton  and  sugar  of 
this  country. 

Considering  her  comparative  infancy,  Texas 
stands  among  the  slave-holding  states  unrivalled 
in  cultivation  and  production,  in  energy  and  en- 
terprise, in  intelligence  and  morality.  Any  at- 
tempt to  estimate  her  future  must  fall  short  of 
reality.  It  is  impossible  to  comprehend  the  full 
force  of  a  silent,  progressive,  and  wide-spread 
emigration.  The  tread  of  armies  may  be  real- 
ized— they  move  in  masses,  and  appeal  to  the 


TEXAS PAST,    PRESENT,    AND   FUTrKE.        241 

senses ;  but  millions  passing  individually,  are 
unperceived,  until  by  a  united  action  they  make 
themselves  known  and  felt. 

Thus  it  is  v^ith  Texas.  It  ia  only  in  the  light 
of  history  that  the  effects  of  its  annexation 
can  be  fully  comprehended,  coupled  as  it  is 
with  the  history  of  the  Mexican  war,  and  the 
discovery  of  gold  in  California.  It  is  only  in 
the  light  of  history  that  we  shall  be  able  to 
read  the  now  silent  workings  of  a  new  and  pe- 
culiar phase  of  civilization.  Yet  there  is  no 
doubt  that  were  the  rest  of  the  Union  to  pass 
from  existence,  there  would  yet  be  left,  within 
the  limits  of  Texas,  the  elements  of  a  magnifi- 
cent empire. 

'  Land  of  the  future,  which  a  faith  sublime 
Fills  with  rich  increase,  Hail !  though  conquered  time 
Not  yet  for  thee  has  harvested  the  Past, 
Thy  seed  through  far  horizons  now  is  cast, 
And  grander  spaces  open  for  thy  hand : 
Thy  skies  are  blue,  and  green  thy  fruitful  land. 
Ages  shall  pass  before  thy  youth  shall  see 
Fulfilled  the  promise  of  thine  infancy." 

De  Trdbriand. 


11 


CHAPTEE  XXU. 

THE  LAST  TAr  OF  THE  DRUM. 

Our  residence  on  the  frontier  was  now  about  to 
terminate.  Orders  had  arrived  from  the  Head 
Quarters  of  the  Division,  at  San  Antonio  de 
Bexar,  for  the  troops  at  Kinggold  Barracks  to 
proceed  to  the  north-western  portion  of  the 
State,  &Ye  hundred  miles  into  the  Indian 
country.  They  were  to  thread  their  way  through 
a  hitherto  unexplored  region  of  country,  and  if 
they  escaped  from  exposure  and  the  savage 
foe,  to  make  an  encampment  on  some  carefully 
selected  spot,  where  a  stream  of  water,  and  per- 
haps a  clump  of  trees,  would  supply  the  neces- 
sary requirements  for  a  new  military  post.  Ru- 
mors of  beautiful  forest  glades,  salmon  streams, 
comitless  herds  of  buffalo  and  deer,  and  a 
fine,  salubrious  climate,  were  dwelt  upon  in  such 
pleasant  anticipations,  that  the  perils  and  dis- 


THE  LAST  TAP  OF  THE  DRUM.       243 

comforts  of  the  march  were  lost  sight  of.  Less 
food,  and  fewer  of  the  bare  necessities  of  life 
than  we  had  at  Ringgold  Barracks,  we  knew 
would  be  inevitable;  but  "where  glory  leads 
the  way"  a  soldier  seldom  hesitates,  although 
in  the  more  sober  paths  of  duty  he  may  not 
always  be  found  "madly  rushing  on!"  The 
prospects  were,  that  we  should  live  in  tents  for 
two  years,  before  which  time  quarters  could  not 
be  built.  The  soldiers  were  to  hew  the  trees 
and  build  log  cabins,  nails  and  carpenters'  tools 
being  all  the  aid  that  Uncle  Sam  furnished  to- 
wards this  object. 

I  anticipated  the  trip,  as  an  additional  phase 
in  a  sort  of  gipsy  existence,  with  great  pleasure, 
as  by  this  time  I  had  almost  succeeded  in  for- 
getting the  luxuries  and  necessities  of  civilized 
life.  A  piece  of  hard  bread  and  a  glass  of  luke- 
warm water  (strained  through  a  rag)  could  not  be 
called  a  banquet,  yet  was  not  an  unusual  meal  to 
me.  I  became  quite  out  of  the  habit  of  having 
any  regular  dinner  at  one  period,  and  made  up 
my  mind  to  regard  it  as  a  mere  unnecessary  cere- 
mony !     Our  arrangements  for  the  march,  how- 


24A  THE  LAST  TAP  OF  THE  DRUM. 

ever,  were  abruptly  broken  in  npon,  as  far  as  we 
were  concerned,  by  the  arrival  of  an  unexpected 
leave  of  absence  from  the  commander-in-chief, 
and  in  a  few  days  the  more  civilized  metropolis 
became  the  goal  of  our  journey,  instead  of  the 
wilds  of  New  Mexico. 

I  left  Ringgold  Barracks  with  as  much  pain 
as  pleasure,  feeling  that  had  my  lot  been  cast 
there,  it  had  not  been  an  utterly  cheerless  one. 
The  climate  was  delicious,  the  life  neither  tame 
nor  monotonous.  I  left  behind  me  warm  hearts, 
and  brought  with  me  sweet  memories,  and  new 
and  enlarged  views  of  life  as  it  really  is,  robbed 
of  conventionalities.  The  people  by  whom  I 
had  been  surrounded,  though  bold,  reckless,  and 
perhaps  rough  in  their  exterior,  had  exhibited  a 
standard  of  honor  and  true  refinement  more 
elevated  than  that  generally  acknowledged  by 
the  world,  and  divested  of  all  false  gloss. 

Our  sail  down  the  Rio  Grande  was  the  repe- 
tition of  the  voyage  up.  We  passed  through 
Brownsville  hurriedly  during  the  night,  and  drove 
by  moonlight  to  Brazos  Island,  resting  again  at 
the  wayside  hut.     The  night  was  beautiful,  the 


THE  LAST  TAP  OF  THE  DEUM.       245 

full  moon  casting  an  effulgence  of  light  that 
seemed  almost  like  daj,  producing  that  exqui- 
site effect  on  nature,  half  of  beauty,  and  half  of 
mystery,  so  unlike  the  glare  of  sunlight.  I  was 
almost  too  weary  and  sick  to  enjoy  it,  for 
although  my  Texas  campaign  might  have  been 
invigorating  to  the  mind,  it  certainly  had  not 
been  so  physically.  At  morning's  dawn  we 
went  on  board  the  steamer,  and  in  a  few  hours 
set  sail  for  'New  Orleans.  I  was  deplorably  sick 
during  the  voyage;  in  consequence  of  which, 
after  arriving  in  'New  Orleans,  we  remained  there 
nearly  a  fortnight  to  recruit.  We  were  to 
return  to  New  York  by  the  inland  route, 
and  secured  rooms  on  one  of  the  Mississippi 
river  steam  boats  as  far  as  Louisville.  It  was 
a  magnificent  vessel,  far  too  beautiful  for  the 
vulgar  herd  that  thronged  it.  My  state-room 
was  quite  a  la  petite  maitresse,  with  a  toilet 
table  trimmed  with  lace,  and  pink  and  gold 
china — ^I  believe  the  state-room  par  excellence 
of  the  boat. 

I  spent  most  of  the  week  that  we  were  on  board 
"The  Magnolia,"  on  deck,  enjoying  the  sublim- 


246       THE  LAST  TAr  OF  THE  DRUM. 

ity  of  this  mighty  and  glorious  river,  musirg 
promiscuously  on — 

"The  beautiful,  the  grand, 
The  glorious  of  my  native  land." 

Yisions  of  Father  Marquette  and  Ferdinand  de 
Soto  often  crossed  my  mind,  as  we  passed  over 
the  dark  waters  that  centuries  ago  were  first 
traversed  by  them,  and  my  eyes  were  fed  on 
the  same  gorgeous  scenery  that  at  every  turn  in 
the  river  met  their  view.  Sublimity,  vastness, 
and  grandeur  are  the  chief  impressions  produced 
by  this  peerless  and  mighty  flow  of  waters. 

At  times  when  nearing  one  shore,  the  oppo- 
site banks  would  seem  miles  away  in  the  dis- 
tance. Occasional  bluffs  and  broad  spread 
valleys,  with  towns,  villages,  and  settlements  in 
incredible  numbers  distributed  along,  gave  food 
for  many  reflections  on  political  economy,  and 
philosophy  generally. 

The  rush  of  commerce  on  these  western 
waters  seems  almost  a  miracle,  so  short  a  time 
ago  the  skiff  of  the  aborigines  or  the  breath  of 
Heaven  alone  disturbed  their  repose,  while  now 


THE  LAST  TAP  OF  THE  DKUM.       247 

tliej  are  hourly  plied  by  steamers  freighted  with 
humanity,  urged  on  by  an  unthought  of  power 
to  emigrate  to  the  unexplored  and  beautiful 
regions  to  which  they  are  hurrying — some  in 
quest  of  wealth,  some  of  excitement,  others  of 
a  new  home. 

Enterprise — avarice — adventure — so  are  our 
human  passions  ordained  to  fulfil  the  destiny  of 
the  universe  I  It  is  rather  common-place  to  ex- 
patiate and  wonder  at  the  strength,  energy,  and 
vigor  of  that  young  giant  "  Sam,"  with  his 
many  foibles,  and  his  many  noble  traits — the 
impetuosity  of  his  Creole  blood  contending 
with  the  caution  he  has  inherited  from  his  Pil- 
grim Fathers,  the  stolidity  of  his  burgomaster  an- 
cestors, and  the  poetical  sublimity  of  his  Indian 
progenitors;  the  chivalry  derived  from  some 
scion  of  a  noble  house  mixed  with  the  demo- 
cracy of  the  plodding  sons  of  toil,  and  dashes  of 
religious  enthusiasm  with  occasional  touches  of 
patriotism. 

What  wonder  that  he  should  be  such  an  ano- 
malous character,  with  such  an  anomalous  com- 
bination of  antecedents ! 


248       THE  LAST  TAP  OF  THE  DRUM. 

To  be  sure  his  slioes  are  hobnailed  I  and  he 
may  be  seen  at  noon-day  in  a  dress-coat  with 
brass  buttons  I  while  bathing  he  does  not  regard  as 
the  end  and  aim  of  man's  fleeting  existence !  But 
he  is  a  hard-working  man,  and  as  yet  has  had 
but  little  time  for  trifling  outward  adornments. 
His  ambition  is  insatiable,  and  like  a  young 
Hercules  he  is  manfully  fighting  in  the  vanguard 
of  the  progress  of  humanity.  Calling  upon 
Europe  to  disgorge  her  slaving  peasantry,  and 
to  ship  them  over  where  they  may  be  illu- 
mined by  the  divine  light  of  Knowledge  in  his 
happy  land  I  at  the  same  time  nobly  standing  by 
the  principle  that "  Cufiy "  was  especially  provided 
by  heaven  as  an  exception  to  prove  the  rule, 
that  all  men  were  born  free  and  equal,  and  to 
hoe  his  rice  and  cotton  fields  I 

The  dense  forests  that  for  miles  at  a  time  line 
the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  are  one  of  its  pecu- 
liar features,  and  seem  to  date  back  to  the 
time  when  "  God  created  all  green  things."  'No 
words  can  describe  their  luxuriance  and  wealth 
of  form  and  foliage ;  the  rough  woodman,  in 
his  clearings,  has  frequently  left  a  single  tree 


THE  LAST  TAP  OF  THE  DRUM.       249 

standing  by  itself  in  its  bed  of  rich  emerald 
sward  stretching  out  its  beautiful  arms,  in  so 
voluminous  a  green  shelter,  that  it  seemed  to  ask 
that  a  homestead  might  be  reared  under  its  pro- 
tecting shade.  I  used  to  sit  for  hours,  fascinated 
with  all  this  novelty  and  beauty — when  "the 
sunset  lay  before  us  like  a  dream," — when  the 
sun  first  rose  in  the  dewy  freshness  of  early  day, 
and  when  nature  was  bathed  in  the  silver  light 

of  the  moon's  rays.  Bancroft  Ubmry? 

Our  party  of  fellow  travellers  in  the  nrst 
cabin  were  very  amusing.  An  actor  who  resem- 
bled the  description  of  that  most  fascinating 
burglar,  Paul  Clifford  prior  to  his  reformation, 
with  a  romantic  air  and  a  turned  down  collar. 
A  bride  of  forty  summers  (or  rather  winters), 
with  her  second  husband,  gave  me  most  intense 
pleasure.  She  used  to  relate  anecdotes  of  "  her 
dear  old  first,"  whom  she  represented  as  "  a  nice 
old  gentleman,"  a  little  touchy  to  be  sure ;  but 
that  was  natural  at  his  age.  She  loved  to  dwell 
on  the  happiness  she  had  enjoyed  when  daily 
combing  his  scanty  grey  locks  from  the  rear, 

she  tied  them  on  the  top  of  his-  shiny  and  vene- 
11* 


250       THE  LAST  TAP  OF  THE  DRUM. 

rable  head  with  a  black  ribbon  ;  and  she  would 
feelingly  dilate  on  the  agony  of  mind  she  endur- 
ed when  performing  this  task  of  love  for  the 
last  time  on  his  inanimate  clay. 

A  month  afterwards  she  married  her  "dear 
Joshua,"  a  tall,  slim,  cadaverous-looking  person, 
with  whom  she  said  she  was  enjoying  her 
"  honeymoon  number  two."  This  vulgar  insti- 
tution of  honeymoons  was  intended  for  this  class 
of  people,  I  am  sure ! 

Joshua  (she  said)  was  not  as  touchy  as  "  dear 
old  number  one"  on  most  subjects;  but  he 
adored  her,  and  was  jealous — unhappy  female ! 
She  was  fat  and  fair  as  well  as  forty,  and 
wore  an  inexhaustible  amount  of  jet  finery 
(tokens  of  her  recent  loss  of  dear  old  number 
one). 

Paul  Clifford  had  a  professional  eye  for 
scenic  effect,  and  led  on  by  encouraging  glances 
from  this  bereaved  bride,  he  gazed  at  her  thea- 
trically for  hours  to  the  great  agony  of  Joshua^ 
who  made  his  jealousy  very  evident,  and  vented 
it  in  private  on  the  partner  of  his  bosom. 

If  Joshua  had  a  weakness,  it  was  for  a  reckless 


THE  LAST  TAP  OF  THE  DRUM.       251 

display  in  dress  !  Frogs  were  his  ideal  of  rich- 
ness and  elegance,  and  Count  d'Orsay  never 
felt  more  satisfied  with  the  success  of  his  toilet, 
than  did  this  simple-minded  man,  when  he 
issued  from  his  state-room  with  a  coat  literally 
embossed  with  frogs  and  braiding.  He  said  he 
had  been  married  in  it,  and  that  it  was  called 
"  an  Italian  boulevard,"  after  a  place  in  France ! 

The  widow  used  to  wear  emeralds  in  her  hair 
to  dinner,  and  between  them  they  kept  up  such 
a  degree  of  elegance  and  good  taste,  that  it  al- 
most supplied  these  deficiencies  in  the  remaining 
brown  linen  passengers.  Some  months  after 
this  I  met  Joshua  in  Broadway,  and,  yielding 
to  an  irresistible  impulse,  stopped  to  ask  him 
after  his  wife.  With  a  look  in  which  he  strove 
to  embody  as  much  lachrymose  distress  of  mind 
as  possible,  he  said  "I  am  sorry,  ma'am,  to  say 
that  Mi*s.  Joshua  is  dead!" 

"All  that's  bright  must  fade,"  etc.  etc ! 

There  was  a  Baptist  clergyman  on  board,  who 
was  at  the  same  time  a  ranting  abolitionist.  He 
went  on  shore  at  one  of  the  landings,  and  finding 
a  cluster  of  small,  lightly-clad  negroes  loo'  ing  on 


252       THE  LAST  TAP  OF  THE  DRUM. 

at  the  unloading  of  some  goods,  lie  addn^sed 
them  in  pathetic  language — ''  Oh,  misei  ible 
children !  don't  you  feel  the  manacles  of  slavery 
on  your  limbs?"  One  small,  bright-looking 
darky,  looking  at  another,  said,  "No,  I  don't,  does 
you.  Zip  ?"  To  which  Zip  replied  in  the  nega- 
tive with  a  shout  of  negro  laughter,  accompanied 
by  a  series  of  gymnastic  evolutions,  from  his 
proficiency  in  which  he  had  acquired  his  sobri- 
quet of  Zip  Coon.  The  philanthropist  was  quite 
nonplussed,  but  afterwards  remarked  it  was 
fearful  to  see  human  souls  so  blind  to  their 
own  wretchedness  as  to  be  able  to  dance  and 
sing  in  a  state  of  such  deplorable  bondage ! 
Some  Californians  returning  to  their  northern 
homes,  and  other  less  conspicuous  passengers, 
completed  our  party.  On  the  deck  below  there 
a  different  class  of  people,  and  the  scene  there 
was  at  all  times  animated.  A  large  party  of 
flat-boat  men,  w^ho  had  been  to  New  Orleans 
with  their  lumber,  were  returning  wdth  us  up 
the  river,  earning  their  passage  by  assisting  in 
taking  in  fire-w^ood  and  freight  at  the  different 
landings.   Some  were  Mississippi  River  men,  and 


THE  LAST  'JAP  OF  THE  DRUM.       253 

others  from  the  Ohio  and  Wabash,  a  great 
deal  of  party  spirit  was  occasionally  exhibited 
among  them. 

One  evening  at  quite  a  late  hour  we  stopped  to 
take  wood  at  a  rough  wharf  near  one  of  the  clear- 
ings. The  doors  of  the  furnaces  were  opened, 
which  threw  a  deep  red  glow  on  the  shore  ;  pine 
faggots  were  lighted  on  the  bank,  and  the  deck 
hands  and  deck  passengers  were  formed  into 
gangs  to  carry  the  wood  on  board.  The  Wabash 
River  men  commenced  singing  an  exulting  air 
with  each  verse  ending  "the  gallant  Wabash 
boys."  This  was  emphatically  groaned  at  by 
the  others.  At  the  end  of  it,  one  of  the  oppo- 
sition set  up  the  well-known  air  of  "sailing 
down  the  river  of  the  Ohio ;"  at  this  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  men  renewed  their  dismal  groans, 
and  finally  followed  a  terrific  row,  which  it  is  im- 
possible for  me  to  describe. 

The  whole  scene  was  one  peculiar  to  this  river. 
The  fiery  glow  cast  from  the  furnaces  on  the 
shore  lighted  up  these  wild  looking  figures,  as  they 
worked  at  their  task,  and  shouted  their  excited 
strains.     The  dense  gloomy  forests  that  backed 


254:       THE  LAST  TAP  OF  THE  DRUM. 

the  clearing  suggested  to  tlie  mind  the  vast  un- 
broken depths  of  solitude  that  lay  enshrined 
within  their  precincts.     Where 

"The  growths  of  jasmine  turned 
Their  humid  arms,  festooning  tree  to  tree, 
And  at  the  root,  through  lush  green  grasses,  burned 
The  red  anemone." 

The  evening  star  shone  out  in  its  pale  dim 
beauty,  while  over  all  the  shades  of  night  were 
falling.  At  Natchez  "  under  the  hill"  we  took 
on  board  a  most  suspicious-looking  set,  soon  dis- 
covered to  be  a  gang  of  blacklegs  of  the  deepest 
dye,  who  finding  they  were  regarded  with  suspi- 
cion left  the  boat  at  the  next  landing  above. 

At  all  times  of  day  and  night  we  would  be 
startled  by  a  hard  bump,  and  the  general  cry  of 
"a  snag"  would  resound.  These  fallen  trees 
are  shifted  by  each  tide,  and  it  is  impossible  to 
steer  clear  of  them.  Their  great  roots  lie  embed- 
ded in  the  bed  of  the  river,  and  their  trunks 
pointing  directly  down  the  stream  have  too 
often  caused  the  most  disastrous  wrecks  and  loss 
of  life.     Between  these  and  the  reckless  racing 


THE  LAST  TAP  OF  THE  DKUM.       255 

of  the  high  pressure  steamboats,  a  sail  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi becomes  a  rather  perilous  adventure. 

The  flat-boat  men,  on  their  way  down  the  river, 
used  to  amuse  me  very  much.  They  were  a 
jolly  set  of  reckless  fellows,  who  seemed  to 
think  that  after  their  boat  is  built,  launched, 
and  loaded,  they  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  en- 
joy to  the  utmost  extent  the  trip  to  "New 
Orleans.  A  fiddle  and  a  banjo  generally  ac- 
company them,  and  these  combined  with  their 
vocal  choruses  principally  of  negro  minstrelsy, 
floated  over  the  waters  in  delightful  harmony. 
They  cook  their  food  on  deck,  and  form  quite  a 
picturesque  group  as  they  sit  around  the  boiling 
pot  from  which  each  helps  himself. 

When  they  arrive  at  their  destination  the  flat- 
boat  is  knocked  to  pieces,  the  planks  which 
compose  it  sold  with  the  cargo,  and  the  crew 
work  their  way  homeward,  on  some  of  the 
steamers. 

After  a  week's  sail  we  reached  the  junction 
of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  and  in  two  days 
more  the  "Magnolia"  deposited  us  at  Louisville, 
Kentucky.     From  there  we  continued  up  the 


256       THE  LAST  TAP  OF  THE  DRUM. 

Ohio  to  Cincinnati,  and  returned,  via  Lake  Erie, 
Buffalo,  and  Albany,  to  N'ew  York. 

Here  ended  my  brief  campaign,  and  with  it 
ended  a  chapter  in  a  life's  history  only  interest- 
ing perhaps  to  a  few  friends,  whose  thoughts 
accompanied  me  to  the  frontier.  A  soldier  re- 
quires a  buoyant  disposition  and  a  philosophical 
turn  of  mind  more  than  most  men,  and  if  this 
can  be  arrived  at,  there  is  much  that  is  attrac- 
tive in  his  careless,  semi-civilized  existence. 

In  retrospect  all  the  discomforts  of  that  wan- 
dering life  are  forgotten,  and  so  truly  does  "  al- 
chymist  memory  turn  the  past  to  gold"  that 
I  find  "The  past  is  very  tender  at  my 
heart,"  and  I  can  now  only  recal  bright  and 
glowing  recollections  of  the  days  of  following 
the  drum. 

"  Sounds  that  once  so  charmed  my  ear 
I  no  longer  now  can  hear ; 
They  are  all  an  empty  hum. 
For  the  drum  I 
Oh,  the  drum!" 

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